


Valley in the Shadow of Death

by PotatoSlayer



Series: Valley in the Shadow of Death [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Absent Parents, Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, All characters - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Betrayal, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Character Growth, Cussing, Death, Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Intense, Kings & Queens, Love, Love Triangles, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Non-Explicit Sex, Parents, Passion, Past Abuse, Pregnancy, References to Illness, Slow Romance, Superhuman, Time Travel, Tragedy, Trauma, True Love, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-06-08 17:24:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 151
Words: 376,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15248211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoSlayer/pseuds/PotatoSlayer
Summary: What is more terrifying than a titan?  Follow the story if there was a such thing as Titan Slayers.





	1. Prologue: Common Criminal

It had been about three years since the walls came tumbling down. 

Kana hid herself in the shadows. Her ebony hair was molded into the darkness the cloaked her. Even though her clothes were ragged, they were loose fitting and allowed her easy movement. From the alley where she stood, she watched the people lining up in the streets. They were all focused on the return of the Survey Corps. It was a perfect opportunity for her. 

In the midst of everyone’s distraction, she could take what she needed. 

She could survive. 

The titans had ruined everything for her and her family. Her father was never around. Her mother was constantly off on some adventure, returning only three times. Each of those visits had resulted in, nine months later, a new sibling. When she turned twelve, she disappeared without a trace. Leaving her and her younger brother, Camden, and even younger twin sisters, Aya and Itski, to the care of her affectionate aunt and uncle. At that point, she’d forgiven her parents for abandoning them, thinking she could live a new life with a patchwork family. But when the titans broke through Wall Maria and took the lives of her new caretakers, she and her siblings barely made it beyond Wall Rose. She was twenty years old now, but with the massive amount of people moving into the new district, a young girl like her had no chance of getting a job. 

So here she was, stealing to ensure her family’s survival. 

Kana poked her head around a couple members of the crowd. She couldn’t see anyone paying her any mind. Around the corner from where she was skulking, was a bakery. The smell of fresh warm bread drifted into her nostrils and made her mouth water. She hadn’t eaten in about a day and a half. Her stomach grumbled and her fingers shook; she could barely think straight. 

Finally the back door opened. The metal door creaked with a loud noise as a man dressed in white threw a trash bag into the dumpster right beside it. Without hesitation she shot down to the edge of the dumpster. As soon as the man turned a way, she winded her body into the door, catching it just enough that it wouldn’t latch and lock. She stood statue still, waiting for the noise of voices inside fade before slipping in. 

It was a very short hallway. To her right was a door to a freezer compartment and on her left was… 

Jackpot! 

A fresh tray of steaming hot bread. In this day and age, the amount of bread on that rack would be worth more than a pile of gold. 

Kana quickly opened up her jacket and started stuffing the hot bread into the inside pockets. Once the tray on the rack was empty, she turned on her heel and headed for the door. She had just gotten the handle twisted and started to open it when the freezer door opened first. 

She swung around, eyes wide. The chef who had emptied the trash was walking out with a bag of frozen dough in his hands. He looked at her, seeming confused a moment, before his eyes narrowed in outward rage. “Son of a bitch. THEIF!” 

As Kana threw herself through the door, all she could think about was, “ew, gross. He didn’t even wash his hands.” 

She ran out of the door so fast, she hit her foot on the dumpster as she rounded the corner. But she used the leverage to propel herself faster into the street. Screams of ‘theif’ or ‘stop her’ erupted behind her, but didn’t slow her down as she broke through the crowd. 

People started grabbing at her from all sides, but their weak grasps couldn’t hold on. A few stronger men reached for her, but she eluded their nagging fingers. She ripped back free of the people, never breaking pace. She finally saw what she needed. There was a stack of crates resting up against a building that led up to a rooftop. She jumped up on it, scrambling to the roof. 

Pausing, she looked back, searching for her pursuers. They weren’t running anymore. For some reason, they were just standing in the middle of the crowd. She looked slightly to their left and saw that the Survey Corps had stopped their advance through town to watch the scene take place. 

A man shouted at her, “This is the Military Task Force! I order you to stop or so help me, I will shoot!” 

Kana narrowed her eyes. Her words came out in a seething hiss, “I think you have a lot more to worry about than a petty girl stealing from the wealthiest man in the district. You and I both know that he makes more than 80 percent of our civilians.” 

“His income makes no difference! A crime is a crime!” The officer shouted. It was then that she saw why they weren’t coming after her. They were arming themselves. The man raised a gun barrel up, pointing it at her. “This is your last warning: Get down and put your hands behind your head.” 

Kana’s lips broke into a devious smile. “Oh come now. I’ll share some with you.” She twisted around, just in time to see another officer scrambled up behind her. He tried to get his arms around her, but her slender body ducked under and winded behind him. She leaped to the next rooftop, a horde of soldiers giving chase. Each time they got close, she was able to evade their attempt. 

Within minutes, they were slowing down and she was putting serious ground, or rather, rooftop, on them. She jumped onto a building, catching herself on the window sill as the last officer dropped to his knees. Pulling herself on up to the higher roof, she took a breather. It’s a good thing she was used to all of this running on a regular basis. 

Getting back to her feet, she looked all the way down the block to see the crowd of people dispersing. She knew that soldier didn’t have the stones to shoot at her. None of the military force even know how to handle a gun. 

Everyone’s only worried about the titans. 

 

“Well that was interesting.” The leading commander commented from atop his horse. He had blond hair and an unwavering look of determination in his eyes. His blue eyes drifted to the soldiers behind him. All of them on horses were from the Survey corps and had come back from yet another difficult mission. Since the titans had broken beyond the walls, they had felt more pressure than ever. 

But they still made no noticeable progress. 

He noticed that his second in command was watching the rooftops. Finally, the commander asked, “Something on your mind, Levi?” 

The other soldiers looked at Levi in response to the question. Levi was much smaller than his superior, but the look on his face was every bit as determined and potentially more lethal. His gaze did not sway from the roofs as he answered, “I noticed she was very evasive… and fast.” 

The commander looked ahead and asked, “You intend to recruit a thief? We have our hands full with the titans, I don’t want someone on our team that would stab me in the back for a piece of bread.” 

Levi looked at him and, remaining in a monotone voice, commented, “Give a thief what they want to steal and what’s left but skill?” 

The commander remained silent. 

Levi continued, “I’ve done well in the recruits I’ve selected thus far. Allow me to judge her character? We need as much help as we can get and we can’t let a chance at another strong member slip away. Am I wrong, Commander Erwin?” 

He closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. “You are not wrong.” 

“Sir.” Levi dipped his head and pushed his horse to move on down the street, taking a sharp turn down an alley. 

 

Kana landed on the ground and rubbed the back of her head. “Crap. I’m gonna have to take the long way home cause of that stunt.” She started to walk on down when she heard the faintest noise of shuffling. She stiffened and immediately readied herself. 

The noise was gone. This soldier was more conscience and coherent then the others. Perhaps this one actually trained? Her crimson eyes watched all directions, but she couldn’t see anything. 

Last minute, she heard a step right behind her. She spun, leaning down on her knee as a sharp blade whizzed right over her head. A man with dark eyes glared down at her; his eyes were painted with a malice she only ever seen in her mirror. As she went to push off her leg she was surprised when this soldier kept spinning, bringing his leg around and knocking her off her own. 

Kana gasped, barely catching herself on her hand. Away, she rolled, flipping back to her feet and running back at him. Her enemy slashed both of his blades right at her, but she stopped herself short. A smirk formed on her lips, knowing that this trick worked on anyone, throwing them off their balance. All she had to do was wait for him to fall forward and she could go in for a counterattack. 

Down he went; but he flipped back up, landing a kick right to her face. She gasped and stumbled back, narrowly avoided several more slashes from his swords. This guy’s fighting technique was amazing. That was when she realized it. This wasn’t a common military soldier she was fighting. 

He was a Survey Corps member. 

Kana shook off the hit and this time she went in for a full on punch. He moved his head just barely out of the way, swinging a sword right at her neck. Quickly, she caught his wrist and turned the sword away, pulling him down and pinning his arm with her foot. He didn’t even look flustered as he flipped his sword in his other hand to stab her with it. His arm hit her elbow before the blade touched her skin, causing him to drop it. 

She was about to order him to concede defeat when, too late, she saw his leg come up around her neck and flipped her down into the pavement. He pinned her down, knee to her face as he sighed. “That told me all I needed to know.” 

Kana tried to push up but all of his weight was pressing down into her jaw and neck and it caused too much pain for her to resist. She’d lost. “Look, whatever. Take me to jail if that makes you bastards happy. But let me take this bread to my family first. You can arrest me after that.” 

He continued to glare at her, nothing moving except the obsidian bangs on his forehead. “If you sit still, I will let off.” 

Kana glared at him. “Sit still so you can cuff me? Yeah right.” 

He pressed his knee harder against her jaw. “I am not a member of the Military force. I’m a member of the Survey Corps. What laws you follow or don’t follow as a civilian do not matter to me.” 

“Then what do you want!?” Kana shrieked. 

“To recruit you.” 

Her eyes widened. As soon as her body went limp, he pulled his knee off of her and stood up. Slowly, Kana sat up, but she didn’t look at him. “Recruit me?” She asked. “Recruit me for what? The Survey Corps? You want someone like me fighting with you? What kind of joke is this?” 

“You’re fast; you’re cunning; you’re determined; you’re evasive; but most of all, you’re skillful. We need someone like you fighting against the titans.” 

Kana laughed out loud. “You want me to just… hand my life over to the titans? No thanks. I have a family to take care of.” 

“If you joined; I would ensure the safety of your family.” 

This caught her attention and now Kana looked directly at him. There was no lie in those eyes, nor was there any hint of any emotion. He added, “You’re stealing that bread to feed your family. What if I told you that if you join the Corps, I could ensure they are well fed and protected? You wouldn’t have to worry about them. And of course, you would be provided with food and lodging as well.” 

“You’re telling me that they would be fed properly? Enough to be well? And what if Titans break through again? Will they be taken to safety?” 

“Yes.” 

Kana saw that his hand was extended out to her to help her up. Kana took it and pulled herself up as she asked, “So… just who is it that has conned me out of my life?” 

The soldier struck the salute and tipped his head as he stated, “Levi; Captain of the Levi Squad.” 

Kana’s eyes widened. “The Levi? As in the strongest human?” 

He didn’t answer her question, just asked, “And you are?” 

“Kana Silrause; common criminal.” She kept a straight face as she joked. But she managed a smirk out of the soldier. 

“Bring your family to the inner gates. Give them your name and you’ll be approved. Make your way to the military court building. I have to approve with my commander, but I see no problems. From there, we’ll find a home for your family.” Levi ordered. “This will be your first task to see how well you can follow orders.” 

“Don’t get your hopes up. Not very well.” Kana informed. She turned and started to walk away before stopping once more. “You know… I could take this chance and just run away. I could hide. How do you know I’m not making up that I want to help my family. Maybe I’m just gonna run and eat all this bread m’self?” 

Levi simply said. “The offer stands.” 

Kana nodded and walked on.


	2. Prelude: Journey to the Inner Walls

Kana smiled at her younger sister, Aya. She was all bundled up with several layers of clothes and a scarf around her neck that almost covered her face. “Can you even see, Aya?” 

Aya never talked. She had a cute bob of red hair that swirl up into two buns over her ears. She had bright, full red eyes and a smile that could melt anyone’s heart. While she failed to communicate, she made this adorable bubbly noise that conveyed what she felt. While nodding her head rapidly, she spat nonsense, cooing and cawing words in her baby language. 

She needed to get to school. 

Kana stood up and looked at Camden and Itski. Camden, now eight years old, had his arms crossed and was glaring at the door. “I don’t get it. Why are we moving again?” 

“Just trust your big sissy, okay?” Kana told him, mussing his hair. 

The kid hissed at her and spat, “Don’t touch it! I got it just the way I wanted!” 

Kana gave him a devious look. “Oh did you?” She picked him up and started rubbing his hair until all the strands were going every which way. “Now it’s not!” 

“Dammit! Kana!” He jumped out of her arms. “Can we just go?! Jeez! Now I have to fix it.” 

Kana huffed. “The kid cares more about his hair than I do mine.” She pulled all of their bags onto her back and stuff her hair up into a stocking cap. “Let’s go, kiddos.” 

It was about a two hour walk to the gates to get inside the inner walls. The closer they got, the more crowded the streets became. Before long, she had a hold of everyone’s hands to make sure they didn’t get lost. “Stay close to me guys.” 

Obediently, all of them pressed closer to her legs, clinging to her pants. Even Camden was too afraid to get separated at this point. The wall was finally coming into a view. Before long, her family would truly be safe. 

An elderly couple began to chitchat beside them and walk more slowly, stopping up traffic even more. They swayed as they talked and once or twice kicked Itski. When they did it a third time, Kana snapped, “Excuse me. I understand you’re living a care-free life, but could you please pay attention to yourself and stop kicking my little sister?” 

The first woman gasped. “Oh my, how rude. Did your parents never teach you any manners?” 

Kana felt a switch go off in her head and she turned on the women. “What right do you have to make accusations like that? My parents… were killed by titans. I lost everything but my siblings while mother fuckers like you live in riches and gold. You have no idea what its like to suffer beyond the inner walls. We struggle just to survive. Now shut your damn mouth before I show you what it’s like to – “ 

“Excuse me.” 

Kana stopped when she heard a cute childish voice give her an order. She turned to see a small girl with black pigtails pulling on her shirt. She said, “Vulgar language only makes you sound stupid.” 

Kana glared. “What do you - ?” 

“It also makes people think you struggle with the English language.” Her dark brown eyes looked ahead at the gate. “But don’t you have more important things to do then threaten a couple little old ladies? Think about this, if a titan attacks, they’ll eat them first cause they’re slow.” 

“Who are you little girl?” Kana asked, walking out of hearing range of the women now. “Where are your parents?” 

“Where are yours?” She asked back. 

“I don’t need my parents around.” Kana retorted. 

“That’s not what it looked like to me.” She said. “It can’t be helped. My name is Mizuki.” 

“I’m Kana.” 

“I know.” Mizuki rolled her eyes. “Jeesh you’re dumb. So why are you going to the inner walls? You running from the titans, too?” 

“No, I – “ 

“I think you are.” Mizuki informed. “Maybe not for your own personal safety, but for the safety of those little brats.” 

“Hey now, you’re a little brat, too.” Kana commented, noticing she was barely Camden’s height. 

“Eh, not so much.” Mizuki stood on her tip toes as though that would help her see over the people in front of her. “At this rate, it’ll take days to get through the gate. Too many people to check and reject.” 

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes.” Kana told her. “I have food to make it a while.” 

“Oh god, you get more and more dumb.” She spun on her foot and pointed her finger up at Kana. “What do you think will happen if you pull food out in front of thousand starving people? You’ll be attacked!” 

Camden glared at the girl and asked, “Kana. Can I kill her?” 

Kana’s eyes widened and she spun on Camden. “No! No! Where the hell did you learn to talk like that? What makes you think it’s okay to say that?” 

“Everyone.” Camden stated. “Titans kill everyone. It’s not a big deal.” 

Kana looked away. “Yes it is. It is a big deal. You can’t say that. Maybe titans do kill people, but that doesn’t make it okay.” 

Camden looked away as well. “Whatever.” 

Kana sighed and they marched along. She tugged them on. Mizuki gasped and squealed, “Wait! Don’t leave without me! Wait up!!!!” 

 

Night was set in and the stars were in the sky by the time Kana got to the gate. She started to walk up to the soldier when Mizuki grabbed her pant leg. “Wait. Kana. I don’t have a passport. Or parents… they won’t let me in.” 

Kana felt her heart tear in half. “Mizuki… I can’t… smuggle you in. I’m here on military order. We’re not related. I can’t take you with me.” 

Mizuki’s grip loosened. “You’re… gonna leave me…?” 

Kana turned, her heart wrenching inside of her chest. She couldn’t stand to leave that girl, but she really couldn’t screw this up for her family. She walked up to the soldier and handed him her ID. He went over her papers and asked, “What’s your reason for coming to the inner wall, Miss. Silrause?” 

“Captain Levi ordered me to report to the Military Court.” Kana answered in her best professional voice. 

He glanced up and then asked, “I see. The captain left the number of accompanying blank. How many do you have joining you today?” 

Kana stared blankly and started to answer when her throat went hoarse. She looked back at Mizuki who was sitting on the ground, crying amongst the crowd of people. “Uh… four. My last little sister fell down back there. I didn’t want to hold you guys up any more.” 

At first, she thought he’d question her, but marked it off on the paper and said, “Get your sister and get on with it.” 

She bowed her head and rushed back. “Mizuki?” 

Mizuki looked up at her. “Wh-what?” 

Kana held her hand down to the small girl. “Let’s go.” 

Her eyes widened. “Y-you mean? You smuggled me – “ 

“Shhh!” Kana glared. “Not out loud! Don’t make me regret my decision!” After nodding rapidly, Mizuki and Kana’s three sibling all ran past the line of guards. Now they were back in the crowd of people trying to figure out which way to go. Most of them were heading real estate offices. 

But Kana needed the other direction. 

“Miss. Kana?” Mizuki murmured. 

Kana looked at her as the girl trotted away from them. “Hm?” 

“Thanks for helping me.” Mizuki waved and disappeared into the crowd of people. 

Kana gasped and shouted after her, but her vision was awash with colors and her ears filled with shouts. She did all she could just to keep track of her own siblings. She stopped and looked around, eyes wide. Everything within these walls were nicer and built much better. Everything was more appealing and pleasant. 

“Why did you stop, Kana?” Camden asked. 

“I’m hungry sissy.” Itski informed. “And I gotta potty!! I gotta go right now!” 

Aya just started screaming to fill in the noise. 

Kana’s gaze softened. They were finally here. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now all she had to do was get into the Survey Corps. 

After a couple hours, she approached what she believed to be the correct building. There were two people standing in front of it. The bigger man with blond hair and short stubble stepped towards her. “Who are you?” 

“Ah, my name is Kana Silrause.” Kana stated hesitantly. Was she in the wrong place? 

A smaller framed girl beside him gasped. “Mike! This is Levi’s new recruit. The one that we were told was going to arrive to speak with him and Commander Erwin.” 

Mike arched a brow and looked her over. “She’s pretty scrawny… she doesn’t look like a Titan fighter to me.” 

“You no better than to question Captain Levi!” The girl shouted. She turned back to Kana and said, “Come with me. I’ll take you to the Commanders office.” 

“What about the kids?” Mike asked. 

Kana stiffened and her limbs automatically went to protect them. They would not separate them under any circumstance. 

The girl pushed Kana on through the door. “They can go, too. Don’t be so uptight, Mike.” 

Kana watched her surrounding closely as she was escorted through a huge building until she came to a small office room. The girl paused in opening the door, “I guess Commander Erwin will be approving you for training.” 

“Training?” Kana asked. 

The girl blinked and questioned, “What, you didn’t think you’d just be indicted into Survey Corps without proper training did you?” 

Kana’s hands clenched. Did that mean her family would go unprotected until she completed training? How long would that take? 

“Ready?” The girl asked, opening the door.


	3. Prelude: Approval

“Commander! Our rising star is here!” The girl informed through the door before stepping aside and letting Kana and the kids in. 

Kana paused, looking at the two men. Levi was standing before the desk, while the commander was sitting in his chair on the other side. She could’ve imagined it, but for a moment, she thought she saw a smirk on the Captain’s lips before he turned to the Commander and said, “I told you she’d make it.” 

The commander stood to his feet and said, “Kana, I assume? I am Commander Erwin. You wish to join the Survey Corps?” 

Kana’s eyes narrowed, tossing a glance at Levi before focusing back on the commander. There was no reason to sugarcoat her intentions. “No. My wish is not to join the Survey Corps. However, if that proves to be what’s necessary to protect my family, then that’s what I’ll do. But do not mistake my wish. My one and only wish is that my family will be protected.” 

This time, it was the commander that looked at Levi. Erwin asked, plainly, “And for this wish, you would lay your life on the line against a titan?” 

“I’d give a thousand lives for each extra breath one of them takes.” 

“And you will follow the orders bestowed upon you?” 

Kana stiffened. “I will follow orders until it hinders my family’s safety. If you ask me to fight and leave them behind, I will not. If you ask me to allow them to be endangered, I will not. But if you swear to protect them…” She saluted as she had seen the soldiers do so many times. “Then I, likewise, swear to give my life to the service of the Survey Corps.” 

Levi looked at Erwin and asked, “Well? What do you think?” 

Erwin sat back down and shuffled some paperwork. “I certainly like the mentality. I guess we’ll need to set the children up with a home and 24/7 guard service. Could you send Petra to speak with the Military Police about lending a squad to this duty?” Levi nodded and Erwin continued, speaking now to Kana, “Do you trust us enough to leave the kids here and head on to the training camp when we’re done?” 

Kana hesitated and nodded. “Yes.” 

“The only foreseeable issue is that a home may have to be set up within Wall Rose. Getting any land here within the Innermost walls is expensive and tedious. I’m sure you don’t have the time or money for that either.” 

Kana’s gaze fell downward. “There’s no place under Military control they can stay?” 

“Afraid not.” Erwin confessed. “We used to, but the migration of the inhabitants of Wall Maria have caused cutbacks on our part as well.” He looked up at her from the desk. “Can you deal with these terms?” 

“As long as they’re protected.” Kana answered. “But, the woman mentioned I would have to be trained first. How long will the training take? I need to know how long I have to watch out for them before they’ll be safe.” 

Erwin paused, watching her closely. 

Levi stated, “As long as you’re progress in your training and are making the effort to make it into the Survey Corps, we’ll protect them, starting now.” 

Kana straightened up. “I will. I swear.” 

 

Kana and Levi walked in silence down the hall. He had taken her to another room where she left her little brother and sisters for a guard squad to take them to their new home. She felt sick, being away from them and letting someone else care for them. Without realizing it, she kept looking back over her shoulder, halfway expecting to hear screams and titan come barreling at them after having killed what remained of her family. 

“They’ll be fine.” 

Kana jumped and looked at Levi when he spoke. “When I give my word, I intend to keep it. The only question is if you can keep your word or not.” 

Kana glared at the accusation in his voice and started to speak out when she realized that it wasn’t accusation at all. It was responsibility. He was telling her that whether they lived or died was on her shoulders and that if she truly fought with all her might, they would live. Of course. It wasn’t his word in question here. 

She smirked. What a genius. He was pinning her arms so they wouldn’t have to trust a thief; the thief would have to trust them. 

As they walked out of the building, she thought their conversation was at its end when he spoke again. “So those children are your siblings?” 

“Yes.” Kana answered, following him as he escorted her through town. 

“And I am to assume their parents are dead?” Levi continued to press. 

“I don’t know.” Kana answered weakly. “They were never around.” 

“I see. And that’s why you resorted to stealing for a living?” 

“Yes. I would never concede to life. Give me a blade of grass and I’ll find a way to survive with it.” 

“That will prove useful in a fight against a titan.” 

Kana stopped suddenly. “Captain Levi.” 

“Hm?” He turned to look at her. “What is it?” 

“If I die. Or I prove useless. Can you swear… can you swear to continue to protect them? Don’t punish those kids because I ended up being useless. Will someone protect them, even after I die?” 

Levi stared at her for the longest time before turning and continuing to walk. “As long as you fight, you have nothing to worry about.” 

Kana followed. There was nothing she could say in response. There was nothing she could do but to blindly trust these people with her life. Because… she was giving her life for her family. 

Finally, they walked into a campground and up to a set of small cabin-like buildings. “These are the barracks for the trainees.” Levi explained, walking past them. “More things will be explained to you when your training begins.” He stopped at the one furthest to the left. “I will be monitoring your progress even before you’re ranked and given the option of joining the elite ranks.” He paused, shooting a glare at her. “So don’t do anything dumb, got it?” 

“Yeah…” Kana agreed, walking past him and on inside. 

Levi turned as another soldier walked up to him. Keith Shadis gave him the standard salute and asked, “So it that your recruit?” 

“Yes.” He answered. “She shows promise, but we won’t know what to truly expect out of her until she’s put to the test. I’ll be coming and going so plan on keeping me updated.” 

Shadis watched him walk off before looking back at the door. “Then put you to the test we shall…”


	4. Bittersweet

“Oh wow. This one sleeps a lot.” 

Kana shifted in her bed, disturbed by the sound of quiet giggles. She opened an eye and saw a girl leaning over her bed. She had yellow-gold hair with streaks of blue and white. Her blue eyes were about as bright as the sun. She was already decked out in her trainee attire. “Good morning there. I thought you might be dead.” 

Kana sat up slowly. The girl sat down beside her bed. “I didn’t see you here yesterday. When did you come in? By the way the ceremony starts in an hour, so I would suggest getting ready. Oh, and my name is Tsukiko Urube.” 

Kana rubbed her face as Tsukiko rambled on about meaningless things. To Kana’s own surprise, her uniform was hanging on the edge of her bed. There were several bunks in this small room and one single bathroom. She hadn’t gotten a chance to look around before coming in. Looks like she was going to be staying in cramped quarters for a while. As the girl continued talking, she yanked on her outfit and finally said back, “I’m Kana.” 

Tsukiko jumped up. “That name suits you perfectly! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” While Kana finished getting ready, the girl continued rambling about all the gossip and everything that was going on. Kana didn’t have the heart to tell her to shut up. Just by listening to her she could tell the girl had a good heart. 

“Oh my gosh! We need to hurry! We’re so late!” Tsukiko grabbed her and yanked her outside. 

 

All of the trainees were lined up in front of one general who was shouting. At the beginning of his speech, Kana didn’t pay much attention. She and Tsukiko weren’t lined anywhere near each other, but her gaze kept getting pulled to the higher ground. Several higher ranking officers were watching them: including Commander Erwin and Captain Levi. 

“…I am Keith Shadis, and I had the misfortune to be assigned to train you bastards.” The bald officer with no eyebrows yelled. “And I’m not here to welcome you at all! Right now, you’re mere cattle, fit for nothing but Titan food! No… less than cattle. In three years, we’ll take you worthless pieces of crap and train you! Give you the means to fight the Titans. In three years, when you stand before a Titan, will you still be food? Or will you be a noble wall, shielding the King? Or perhaps, one of humanity’s glorious soldiers that slay Titans? You will decide!” 

Kana narrowed her eyes. It was some speech. Out of everything, it made Kana wonder just what kind of soldier he really was. Was he as he preached? Or was he just another soldier that couldn’t face a half-blind Titan? One kind of soldier was she? She began to shake. Could she face a Titan herself? No. That wasn’t her fear. That isn’t what made her shiver to her very core. 

It was something more. A fear far greater than just being eaten alive. 

“You there!” 

Kana quickly came to when the guy started shouting again. He yelled a smallish boy with blond hair. “Who are you?!” Shadis demanded. 

“Armin Arlert from Zhiganshina!” 

“Yeah? That’s a stupid name. Your parents give you that?” 

“My grandfather!” 

“Arlert, what are you doing here!?” 

“Trying to aid humanity’s victory!” 

“That is indeed wonderful! Then you will feed the Titans!” He turned. “Row 3, about face!” 

This time, he walked up to a small girl with Lavender hair. She had maroon colored eyes and a pleasant girlish smile. “Who are you!?” Shardis demanded. 

“I’m Leah Canis.” She answered. 

The general marched up and down the lines this way, demanding answers from specific people. When he had yelled at Tsukiko, he had made fun of her hair and sparked a girlish tantrum. For some reason though, Kana felt deep in the pit of her stomach that she could turn that into real fury and do serious damage. Could she? Or was this just a hope? 

Shardis stopped in front of Kana now. “Who are you?” His voice was filled with more malice than it had been speaking to anyone else. 

Kana held her posture. “I’m Kana Silrause, sir.” 

“Why are you here?” 

“I want to protect my family, sir.” 

He started to laugh a sarcastic humorless laugh. “Oh and it has nothing to do with you being a special brat?” Kana glared as he continued, “Let’s get something straight here, I’m not giving you special treatment just because you’re specially recommended by Captain Levi. You, along with everyone else standing before me, are no better than the dirt on the heel of my boot, got it?” 

Murmurs rippled through the crowd of trainees at his words. Kana remained statue still. 

“Nothing smart to say in response, little girl? Are you gonna freeze up like this in front of a Titan? If I was going to eat you alive, would you cry while you let me!?” 

“No, sir.” 

“What?” Shardis challenged. “I can’t hear you when you whisper.” 

Kana took in a deep breath. “No sir! I would not freeze up before a Titan! A Titan would be worth my time to kill! Unlike you when all you can do is stand here spewing nonsense and calling us names while hiding from the front lines! Give me a weapon and an order and I swear to you, I’ll kill anything more than two meters tall!” 

Shardis went quiet at her protest along with the rest of the crowd. 

 

Levi stared with wide eyes while Commander Erwin moved away from the rail. There was a quiet laugh on his lips. “Well now. All we have to do is see if she can back up those words.” 

Levi smirked. “Interesting.” 

 

Kana sat alone in the dining hall. Most of the other trainees had already acquired groups to sit together with. But most of them probably saw Kana as trouble. Even Tsukiko, who she thought was trying to be her friend, was sitting with another group. She recognized the others as Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie. 

She couldn’t blame everyone for avoiding her. They had been ordered to do so by Shardis. He had translated her outburst as a way of impressing the others. No, she simply said what she thought. Not only that, but she and another girl, who had been caught eating, were both condemned without food. She supposed that it was only fair. No matter what, it’s not a wise idea to talk back to superiors. 

She heard a lot of gossip around her about it being a stupid idea to speak out so rudely. None of it bothered her until she heard one single comment: 

“That will teach her not to do it again.” 

Kana’s eyes narrowed. “You’re wrong.” She stood to her feet. “They can punish me all they want for speaking what was on my mind. I’m used to being treated like a criminal. It’s nothing new. I won’t change my ways. I won’t dance to their tune. It’ll be my own skills and my own decisions on the battlefield that will decide my fate. I’ll follow orders, but I’ll follow them my own way.” 

To her surprise, several other trainees stood to their feet. She recognized some, but not others. They all moved to her table and sat down. Kana asked them, “What are you doing?” 

“I’m sick of these cowards.” She recognized this one. His name was Eren. He was outspoken, much like her. “Every single one of them.” 

The two that had come with him were his friends: Mikasa and Armin. 

Tsukiko smiled at her. “I was going to wait and chat with you when we went to bed, but I decided that you opened the door for me to come over and rub it in those superiors faces. I didn’t like that Shardis guy anyway.” 

To her left was another girl. The one she recognized as Leah. “I thought you were quiet until I heard you snap at our leader. I thought it was kinda cool.” 

Lastly, there was another guy sitting on the other side of Eren. “I’m Clay by the way. You gotta have nerve to talk out like that; that’s what we’ll need against the Titans.” 

Kana glared. “None of you are doing yourselves any good. You’re only getting yourselves in trouble and for no significant reason. I don’t need support. I’m fine on my own.” 

Tsukiko got in her face. “On your own… you’ll starve. You want food don’t you?” 

Kana started to snap something about being used to going hungry when the door to the dining hall swung open. Her eyes widened when Captain Levi walked in, arms crossed behind his back. Everyone in the entire hall went silent and watched him. 

Tsukiko whispered to Kana. “So is it really true. Were you personally recruited by the strongest human?” 

“Uh…” 

“Kana.” Levi ordered, stopping at the edge of the table. “Come with me.” 

“Sir…” Kana said weakly, getting to her feet. She followed him out, but as she walked, she could overhear Tsukiko and the others. 

“Holy crap!” Tsuki squealed. “It is true. She is totally in tight with the Survey Squad!” 

Eren stared, mystified, “How does someone manage that without having gone through even training yet?” 

“Who cares?” Tsuki raised a fist. “You know what this means? She’s super skilled. If all of us joined up on a single squad, I bet we could erase Titans for good.” 

“I think it’d take a lot more than one single squad to manage that.” Clay disagreed. 

“Two of our squads!” Leah chirped. 

“That sounds more like it.” Clay responded. 

Armin shrieked. “You think we can fight all the Titans with two squads like ours?” 

“Oh my goodness, Armin. He was just kidding.” Leah laughed. 

“But I’m not.” Clay argued. 

Tsuki glared at him. “Where would you get a second of our squad?” 

“Our squad and Levi Squad.” 

There was a moment of silence. Then suddenly all of them shouted at once, “That could totally work!” Then they all broke into laughter. 

Kana closed the door behind them. “Did you need me for something, sir?” 

“Here.” Levi handed her a slip of paper. 

“What’s this?” Kana asked as she unfolded it. When she read it, she realized it was an address. “Is this… were they’re staying.” 

“I figured you might want to check and make sure we’re holding up our end of the deal.” Levi commented, arms crossed. 

Kana found herself smiling warmly. “Honestly, I wasn’t worried about it. I trust you.” 

Levi stared at her a moment and then looked away. “Well. If you want to check up on them.” 

“Am I able to?” She asked, hope gleaming in her eyes. 

He gritted his teeth as though mentally cursing himself. “At the moment, no. But you will soon.” Kana remained quiet and moment and Levi stepped towards her. “Shardis banned you from eating today.” 

Kana didn’t say anything. 

Levi finally withdrew the arm that was still behind his back and revealed what he had. “Don’t let this go to waste.” 

She stared at the crimson apple in his hand. In a land were vegetation was scarce, apples were considered a delicacy since they were so hard to grow in this land. Why was he giving her one? She reached for it, starting to accept it before pushing his hand away. “I can’t. I deserve the punishment. I spoke out. Besides, I’m used to starving.” 

Levi still showed no expression. “This is an order, Kana. Take it. Eat it.” 

Kana stiffened at the sudden harshness of his tone. He told her, “You’re no good to us if you’re not at full strength.” He placed the apple in her hand and turned, walking away. “Next time, do not elicit punishment. I can’t go breaking the rules for you.” 

Her eyes widened. “You’re breaking the rules now, aren’t you?” 

He froze but did not turn back towards her. “I was ordered to adjust your routine as I see necessary. I saw it necessary that you ate. So no, I’ve not broken any rules.” 

“Thank you.” Kana told him before taking a bite of her apple. It was the sweetest thing she’d tasted in years.


	5. Advisory

The next couple weeks were filled with a lot of endurance training and an introduction to the 3D maneuver gear. Unfortunately, because Kana had come so close to starving before, she was becoming thinner and thinner, but she was gaining weight. Her body was filling out with muscle and she found herself able to run, literally, laps around the other trainees. 

She had gotten to know Tsukiko, Clay, and Leah very well. Surprisingly, they had been closest ones to keeping up with her. It was putting the others at unease. There had been a lot of fights breaking out when the leaders weren’t paying attention. 

Time went on. Months passed. It was coming down to time to test their abilities with the gear. In the last few months, she hadn’t seen Levi once. She wasn’t sure why she made notice of it. It had no significance to her, but for some reason, his absence had an effect on her mentality. Was he still keeping tabs on her? Were her siblings okay? However, she didn’t doubt that he was keeping his word. Someone was watching them. 

Today was an easy day for her. Training wasn’t starting until an hour later. But her body was so used to waking up at this time, she was wide awake. Her chin rested on the pillow, her body stretched out upon its stomach on the mattress. A fly buzzed around the pillow holding the top bunk over her head. 

Waiting for it to land, she smashed her palm down, squashing it between her thumb and palm. A giggle arose above her. Tsuki yelled down at her. “Keep it down, some of us want to enjoy our hour of freedom. Not listen to you toss and turn.” She could tell from the voice it was tease. 

Kana didn’t answer; she was staring at her hand. The fly was in two pieces against her skin. She’d once seen a Titan kill a human in the same way. Was it wrong of her to think that way? The humans were nothing but flies to the Titans. They killed them without second thought and for no reason simply because they could. Or because they were a nuisance? 

Was she like a Titan herself? 

She felt a headache come on and she groaned and rolled over. Next thing she knew, a pillow slammed on her face and girl glared down at her. Once Kana was able to refocus, she saw that it was Leah in her pajamas, a pillow ready to smack her again. She screamed for no reason, “WOULD YOU KEEP IT DOWN, YOU’RE BOTHERING ME!” 

Kana grinned and lunged out of bed, her arms encircling Leah’s waist and sending her to the ground. The girl flailed and beat her with a pillow while trying to avoid Kana’s tickle attack. Next thing she knew, Tsuki dropped down, dog-piling them both and joining the warfare. 

Before long, all the girls in the cabin were joining in the pillow and tickle fight. Kana couldn’t stop laughing. All of them had become such good friends in so short of time. Times of peace like this couldn’t be traded for anything. Moments of happiness… of joy… should never be forgotten… 

The door swung open. Shardis shouted, “To your feet! At attention!” He marched down the aisle as the girls scrambled to get up and salute. “Today you will all be being monitored by our superiors again. If you have any hope of making it into one of our forces, you better put on your best show today, as well as on the test next week.” 

Kana felt a rush of warmth sear through her body. Did that mean that Levi would be there? Would he be checking up on her progress? No. That was nonsense. She wasn’t a special case. But she couldn’t stop her hopes from soaring through the roof. 

 

For majority of the day everyone was working with their maneuver gear. It was slow going, because only so many people could practice at once. They had all broken off into teams. Tsuki, Leah, Kana, and Clay had formed a team. At the work station beside them, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were working together as well. 

Tsuki was a natural. 

“Haha, Kana! Check me out!” Tsuki was bouncing up and down in her and even firing the launchers and spinning around the poles – something she had been specifically told not to do. 

“Tsuki. Enough. You’ll get us in trouble.” Kana scolded. 

“Oh what’s a little trouble?” She laughed, lowering herself down. “Your turn.” 

Kana was hooking herself up when she noticed a couple of the guards were escorting some people through. She pulled the bands over her shoulders, noticing that it was the line of superiors because she recognized Erwin immediately. For the slightest moment, she remained there, watching, but the entire line passed. 

Levi wasn’t there. 

She turned away and pulled herself on up. Although she wasn’t as good as Tsuki, she had no issues either. It was all about balance. After a few moments, she lowered herself and handed the gear off. 

Tsuki pointed at Eren’s group. “Hey check this out. Mr. All-bark-and-no-bite can’t even hover straight in his gear.” When Kana looked over, her eyes narrowed. Most people probably wouldn’t notice it. But, as an experienced thief, she saw his gear was broken right at the latch on one side. 

Shardis wasn’t doing anything about it, nor did he notice. 

After several hours, everyone was worn out. Kana was sitting against one of the poles, catching her breath when Eren walked up. He rubbed the back of his head. “Kana, can I ask a favor?” 

“Hm?” She asked. 

“I… can’t get the hang of this gear. Will you… help me?” His teal eyes sparkled with hopefulness as he shifted about nervously. 

Kana sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think so.” Eren’s expression started to drop until she finished, “Tsuki is better than I am. She’d do more good for you.” 

He waited there for Tsuki to lower herself back down for the third time that day. Kana couldn’t help noticing that she kept going up when Reiner did. The two of them were chatting at the top. Tsuki had been hanging on him quite a bit before melding into their squad. 

Clay put his hands on his hips and commented to the two of them. “Think she’s up there flirting?” 

“Think? I know.” Kana clarified. 

Leah grumbled. “I’ll take care of this.” She spun kicked the side of the pole, causing enough reverberation that the gear released and Tsuki fell. Leah laughed, catching her by the shirt before she fell. “Sorry, we prematurely ended your flirt session.” 

Tsuki gasped, “I was not flirting! I was just having a pleasant conversation!” 

Clay jabbed his finger towards Eren. “Yeah, well he needs your help.” 

Tsuki looked at Eren questioningly and he walked up slowly. “Can you… help me get better at the maneuver gear?” 

She started to laugh out loud. “Is that all? Oh sure kiddo, I can give you some pointers.” She waved him over to join her at the base of the pole to start talking. They all sat in a circle. 

Tsuki looked up and started talking. “Okay… so the key to getting better with this gear is making sure you’re balanced correctly. But in order to do that, you have to anticipate the force and range of your own movements.” She continued ranting while Kana zoned out. 

She paid attention once more when she heard Tsuki tease Eren about having no core muscle and started poking at his abdomen. 

The number of trainees at dinner that night was drastically lowered. Leah leaned towards Tsuki and asked, “Hey… where did everyone go?” 

Tsuki shrugged. 

At the end of dinner, Shardis stormed into the dining hall, arms crossed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, many of the trainees have been sent back home. The superiors pointed and out and deemed certain trainees unworthy of continuing service for various reasons. For those of you whom remain, be grateful; either for luck or for skill.” 

Tsuki gasped, “Our careers were on the line!? No one told me this.” 

“You should always be at your tip top even when your higher ranking soldiers are not present. Your future rests squarely on your shoulders.” 

Tsuki puffed her cheeks and grumbled. “What a rudey-rude pants.” 

The others chuckled at her comment. After excusing himself, the gossip in the dining hall continued. Leah asked, “So… what do you think the upper-dudes were looking for?” 

“Useless people.” Kana answered. 

“Like Clay!” Tsuki teased. 

“Hey! More like you!” Clay argued. 

“Nu-uh! I’m better with the 3D gear than you are!” She sang. 

“Yeah, and I could lay you out in a fight!” Clay challenged. 

Leah chimed in, “Well, if we were fighting a Titan, I’d win, because you would both miss the damn thing’s neck!” 

“Challenge accepted!” Clay and Tsuki shouted together. 

Leah’s eyes widened. “Challenge? What challenge?” 

“First one of us to kill a Titan!” Tsuki stated. “The others have to do their bidding for the next month!” 

“Okay, that’s a little erroneous.” Clay retorted. 

“Err-what-eous?” Leah asked. 

“Spell that! I dare you!” Tsuki yelled over the table. 

Kana was making a face, “Wait, am I getting dragged into this?” 

“Will you all shut up!?” 

All of them looked over at the guy who got to his feet. He had light and dark brown hair and pointed at them. “We all get it that you guys aren’t taking this seriously! But some of us actually have things on the line, and goals we want to achieve. So stop bothering everyone else with your bullshit fake happiness!” 

Tsuki’s smile fell into one, not of joy, but of pity. “You refused to let yourself be happy? Why waste an opportunity to enjoy just a moment of happiness in a life you don’t know will last long?” 

The guy’s eyes widened. 

Clay glared at him. “Your name is Jean, right? You want to join the Military Police and just sit on your ass while everyone else fights your battles… right?” 

Jean glared right back. “Of course. The only people who want to join the Survey Corps are suicidal idiots!” 

“You’re wrong!” Leah argued. “We don’t want to die any more than anyone else!” 

Tsuki finished, “We just don’t want to live in a cage all our lives without fighting back.” 

Jean’s eyes widened. “You’ve all, condemned yourselves to the Survey Corps?! You’re all stupid!” 

Eren stood to his feet. “You can’t win unless you fight.” 

More people stood up on Jean’s side, shouting not to start a fight, or not to get cocky. Meanwhile, more stood up with Tsuki and Clay like Reiner who threatened Jean if he thought of laying a hand on them. 

And just like that, the dining hall broke into war.


	6. Running

All of the trainees were lined up against the wall, waiting for their punishment. Shardis told them that he was going to take the issue up with the commanding officers and they would decide what the consequences would be. 

After what felt like hours, the door to the room opened up. Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, and another commander she didn’t recognize entered the room. Shardis entered after, in mid-sentence, “…but I still don’t know what started the whole dispute. I assume some argument. But no one will speak up about what happened.” 

Erwin asked, “Any severe injuries to report?” 

“Nothing much. Several cuts and bruises. One of them has a gash on their shoulder. I was told that Reiner hit him with a table. Silrause has two black eyes. Apparently she can run her mouth but not defend herself.” 

“It wasn’t cause she didn’t defend herself!” 

Everyone turned to look at Tsuki who had shouted in protest. “Don’t go making judgments with no evidence to base them off of!” 

Kana thought of stepping up to tell Tsuki she didn’t need defending, but she was distracted. When Shardis had bad-mouthed her, she noticed that Levi, for just a moment, looked cross. Was it her imagination? Was she just seeing what she wanted to see? No, why would she want to see that? 

Shardis glared at her. “Are you talking out of place?” 

“Listen to me! I’ll tell you the whole story. But don’t you dare go pointing fingers.” Tsuki yelled. “We were all getting into a heated argument and starting swinging fists. It was out of control. We were all stressed and taking it out on each other. I finally snapped. I went in to do some serious damage on Jean about the time he turned on me. Two swinging fists, right for each other. Kana shouted at us that we were taking it too far. She moved between us and deliberately took the hit so that the two of us would back off and think it over. We did. We got everyone calmed down afterwards. She took the hit on purpose to settle the dispute and return order; so if you ever think about trash-talking my friend again, you’re going to have to go through me first, GOT THAT!?” 

Kana felt her body tremble with happiness. “Tsukiko…” 

Commander Erwin smirked. “I see.” 

“Someone needs to be punished!” Shardis shouted. “So who started the argument!?” 

“I did.” Tsuki yelled. 

“No. Stop taking the blame. We all know that I started it.” Clay stepped up, arguing against Tsuki. 

“Clay…?” Tsuki stared with wide eyes. 

“Actually… I did.” Jean added. 

“It was me.” Leah stated. 

“I did it.” 

“I did.” 

“It was me.” “I started it.” “I’m to blame.” “It’s my fault.” “I did it all.” “I started the argument.” 

All of the commanders in the room stared with wide eyes as they, one by one, took responsibility for the accident. Finally, the commander she didn’t recognize laughed, “Well we can’t very well punish them all.” 

“But someone needs to be punished!” Shardis argued. “If we let them get away with this then they’ll – “ 

“Shardis.” Erwin patted his shoulder. “They’re to be soldiers. As soldiers they need to take responsibility for their own actions. Trainee Squad 104… has proven that all of them are ready to be soldiers. Good job everyone.” 

The commanders left after Shardis dismissed them all. Everyone shuffled about, making their way out of the room. Kana noticed that Tsuki sought out Jean and held her hand out. “I’m not going to apologize for what I said. But, I do apologize for the way it went down. We were all stressed. Honestly, you were the first opportunity I had to vent. I took advantage of you.” 

“As did I. I, too, apologize.” Jean agreed, shaking her hand. 

Kana’s eyes softened. This is what humanity is capable of. Amends. Kana walked out with her group of closest friends. Leah turned and danced, laughing. “Hey Kana, how’s your black eyes feelin’? You look like a raccoon.” 

Kana gritted her teeth as the other chimed in. Tsuki added, “Or a burglar.” 

“Or a dumb football player.” Clay offered. 

Kana took her turn glaring at each of them. “How about I make all of you look like all of the above!? Huh?” 

“It can only be one or the other. It would be redundant to make one of us look like them all.” Clay corrected. Kana grabbed him by the head and started giving him a nugie. 

“You’re first!” Kana shouted. 

They all laughed until Shardis commanded all of them to get back training. 

Kana narrowed her eyes. Soon… they would face their first test. It would be their first step to becoming members of the Survey squad. 

 

Shardis was walking down the hall, going to get some drinks when he saw Levi leaning against one of the windows. He saluted immediately, “Oh, Captain Levi, I didn’t realize you were still here.” 

Levi glared at him. “You haven’t been keeping me well informed. Commander Erwin has been making routine visits to keep me posted. I don’t see how it’s that difficult to relay information.” 

“I’ve been very busy.” Shardis explained. “As you saw, this squad is a handful.” 

“That could be good.” Levi commented. “If they’re a handful for us, imagine how much of a nuisance they’ll all be to the Titans.” He pushed off the wall and sighed. “Anyway. I expected to be better informed from here on out.” 

Shardis looked out the window where all the trainees were practicing. “What kinds of updates are you expecting out of me? What am I looking for?” 

“I want to know if she has the skills to fight a Titan.” Levi explained. “All I saw was based on only a moments sighting. For all I know, I’m going out of my way for nothing.” He started to walk away, “But I don’t believe that’s the case. That girl has potential. It’s buried. We’ll uncover it one way or another.” 

Shardis blinked and looked back outside, just in time to see Kana and Tsuki start to playfully wrestle. 

 

They ended the day with an endurance run. Shardis must have been in a bad mood because he ordered a ten mile run. After five miles, Tsuki was breathing hard and barely keeping pace with Clay and Leah. Ahead of them, though, Kana was still putting distance on them. 

Tsuki moaned, “She’s like the little engine that could.” 

“Or the energizer bunny.” Clay suggested. 

“She just keeps going and going and going and going and going…” Leah grumbled. 

 

Erwin’s arms were crossed as he leaned on the rail by the time Levi walked back up. “Well Levi?” 

Levi glanced at him, but looked back down at the field where the trainees were running their miles. He sighed. “She hasn’t shown anything exceptional yet. Besides her ability to run and keep running. I haven’t seen anyone as fast as her. To run so fast while being injured is… impressive.” 

Erwin didn’t say anything at first, but Levi could see that he was planning in his head. “That ability could be well used on the front line. Or as a scout. We could send her ahead to search for Titans. From her call we could plan whether to fight or avoid them.” 

“Scouts never last long, Erwin.” Levi argued. “Even though they’re fast, they’re rendered useless against multiple Titans at once, and they have no back up if they’re cornered, trapped, or caught by any of them.” 

“But we’ve never had a scout like this.” Erwin finally looked at him. “It’s a risk I think we should take, don’t you?” 

Levi stared at him, betraying no emotion. For the briefest moment, he caught Levi clenching his hands into fists. “Yes.” The words were like poison on his tongue. He clearly didn’t want to say them. 

Erwin pushed off the rail and stood up straight. “You have a protest, Levi.” 

“No I don’t.” He snapped and started to walk away. “If you want to send her to her death, I can’t stop you.”


	7. Broken

It was finally the morning of the 3D gear testing. No one had noticed Eren’s broken equipment. Half of the tests were already taken, including Kana’s. She passed with ease and made her way to Shardis. “Sir. I want to make a statement.” 

“I’m busy, it’s test time, it can wait.” He argued. 

“No, sir, it can’t.” Kana tried again. 

“Is it a Titan attack? No. Then it can wait.” 

“But sir! It’s about Eren’s gear!” Kana tried again. “It’s broken!” 

“I think I would know if it’s broken.” 

Kana glared at him as he walked away. “Son of a bitch.” 

Several more tests later, it was Eren’s turn. After a good time of struggling, he was able to hold himself up straight for just a moment. Then he flipped over, slamming his face into the ground. After several minutes of mystification, Shardis walked up and made an announcement that the gear was broken and that Eren was lucky he noticed it. 

She wanted to kill him. 

After changing gear, Eren passed with flying colors as well. By the end of the day, everyone had passed except for a couple who should have already dropped out. Everyone was cheering and excited, especially the tight little group Kana had come to be a part of. Tsuki had suggested they call themselves the Trinity+1. When asked why, she always answered with, “I just like the word.” 

But things did not remain as wonderful and carefree as she would have liked. Leah, Kana, and Tsuki walked back to barracks, but to Kana’s surprise, a Survey Corps member was leaning by the door. Not just any Survey Corps member, either: Levi, himself. 

Leah and Tsuki saluted him, but Kana just stood there, surprise written on her face. Before last week, it had been months since she’d even seen him. But here he was again, as though he hadn’t stopped keeping tabs on her. “Levi-san?” 

Levi’s expression wasn’t pleasant at all and for the first time, Kana began to wonder if she’d screwed something up. Was her family in danger? He pushed away from the wall. “Drop the honorific. Come on. Let’s go for a walk.” He walked on by her without waiting for her response. 

Kana looked at Tsuki questioningly, but she just said, “I think you better go with him. He seems… mad.” 

 

Kana followed in silence until they were out of the training camp. Finally she swallowed her breath and hoarsely asked, “Uhm… Levi…? Did I mess up? Is something wrong?” 

He stopped and Kana almost ran into him. “Levi?” 

After a long pause, Levi finally stated, “Commander Erwin gave you permission to leave the training camp to visit your family. As long as you have supervision.” 

A huge smile broke out upon her face. “Really? Well that’s great news! I was expecting something bad from your expression.” 

Levi barely glanced over his shoulder at her, but didn’t say another word. They walked in silence through the streets. The sun was setting and the street lights were barely flickering on. 

Suddenly, Kana asked, “Levi, why did you become a member of the Survey Corps?” 

She was answered with silence. She sighed. There were subjects she just shouldn’t meddle in, hm? 

Levi stopped abruptly again some time later and she realized that the building to her left had the address on the slip of paper he’d given her. “Oh.” She stepped by the two waiting guards and opened the door. The small house was quiet except for a small room where all three kids were playing a game with marbles. She felt her heart racing inside her chest. “Aya…Itski…Camden…” 

All of them looked up and started screaming as they jumped on top of her. Kana allowed herself to be buried by the small kids, having missed their obnoxious noises these past months. “You kids look great. You’ve been eating plenty?” 

“Yeah!” Itski shouted. “Levi cooks for us every day!” 

“And his food is much better than yours!” Camden added. 

She started to scold Camden for being rude again when she realized just what they’d said. Her eyes widened and she looked back at Levi. He had a somber look upon his face as she asked, “You’ve been coming here and taking care of them personally every day?” 

He looked away, but Kana couldn’t mistake the look of sadness in his eyes. “I made a promise.” 

“But you – “ Kana looked down and mumbled, “No wonder you’ve been so busy. You hadn’t done any checkups these last couple months.” 

Levi watched her carefully. “You noticed my absence?” 

She stared at the kids. “…Yeah…” 

 

“UGH I AM SO FUCKING JEALOUS RIGHT NOW!” Tsuki screamed at the top of her lungs, earning her several moans of complaints from the other girls who were trying to sleep. 

Leah snapped. “Would you hush up? For the hundredth time?” 

Tsuki flipped over and looked down at her friend. “What if Captain Levi is taking her on some super secret Survey Corps mission?” She gasped again and shrieked. “What if she gets the first Titan kill!? That’s not fair and won’t count!” 

Leah shushed her again but Tsuki kept talking. Leah groaned and said, “Okay, if you’re going to keep blubbering, let’s at least go outside.” 

Tsuki hopped out of bed and pulled on her slippers. They both peeked out the door to make sure no one was watching and then trotted around to the back of the cabin. She teased, “Oooh, we are naughty girls. Breaking all the rules.” 

“What are you two doing!?” 

Leah and Tsuki both whirled around to see Clay and Reiner walk up. Tsuki pointed at them and said, “We could ask the same of you two! Shame on you, breaking the rules!” 

“So are you!” Clay yelled back. “Besides, someone mentioned they saw Levi walking around. If that’s true then something’s going on. He hasn’t come by except for important decisions or to – “ 

“Steal away my best friend!” Tsuki whined. 

Leah rolled her eyes. “He showed up and took off with Kana. Judging from her reaction, I don’t think even she knew what she was getting called out for.” 

“We should investigate!” Clay announced, pumping his fist. 

“Yeah… and get kicked out of the polices forces permanently? Hell no. I learned how to use the 3D maneuver gear, there is no way I’m losing my shot at getting into Survey Corps.” 

“Well you’re already breaking the rules…” Clay commented. 

“I know, I’m such a bad girl!” Tsuki whined and then trotted over to Reiner’s side and teased, “Someone should punish me.” 

Reiner blushed, but laughed. “You’ve got a million of those, huh?” 

“I knew it! You were flirting with him! You fat liar!” Leah shouted. 

“I am not fat!” Tsuki snapped back. 

Clay motioned his hands down. “If you girls keep yelling like that, we’ll all be thrown out.” 

They pointed at each other and retorted, “She started it.” 

Clay sighed. “Maybe it’ll just be easier on us all if we wait until Kana gets back and just ask her?” 

“What if she doesn’t come back?” Leah asked. 

Tsuki glared at her. “Don’t say that!” 

Reiner shushed them all suddenly and murmured, “Someone’s coming. We all need to get back to our barracks. Now.” 

 

Kana kissed Camden’s forehead as she tucked him in. She started to walk out when his groggy little voice asked her, “Hey sis… are you gonna be gone for a long time again?” 

Kana felt her heart melting. “I hope not, Cam. I hope not.” 

“Okay… the girls missed you.” 

“I know they did. Thank you Cam…” Warmth spread through Kana’s cheeks. Ever since Camden had become a rebel little boy, she had rarely gotten to see this side of him. The sweet soft side that wouldn’t admit he missed his big sister. 

When she stepped out of his room, she saw Levi was sitting at the table; his eyes were far away as though a picture were being displayed on the cheap wood table. “Levi?” 

He jumped a bit and looked at her. Those same, usually expressionless eyes even more devoid of emotion than usual. “Are you done?” 

“Yes, but… Levi…” 

“What is it?” 

“Would you please… tell me what else is going on?” 

“Why do you think something else is going on?” 

Kana sat beside him and whispered. “All of a sudden… whenever you look at me… You look really, really sad.” 

Levi went back to staring at the table as though he had no intention of answering her question. Cautiously, she reached out and touched his hand. “Whatever it is… You can tell me.” 

He stared at her hand for the longest time. She couldn’t tell what other expression was mixed in his dark eyes besides shock. Everything seemed to slow down around them and finally Levi whispered, “I never should have offered you to the Survey Corps.” 

Kana narrowed her eyes. “Why do you say that?” 

“All I’ve done is consigned you to your death.” 

“You’re so sure I’ll die?” Kana asked. 

“Yes.” Levi mumbled, his posture defeated. 

“Why? You survived.” Kana informed. 

“I wasn’t assigned the scouting position.” 

“Scouting position? Like, the person that runs ahead to find Titans?” 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s not so bad. I’m fast.” 

“You’ll be in the most danger.” 

“All I have to do is run away.” 

“You can’t run if there’s an ambush.” 

“You guys have had scouters in the past. If I die, so what? You can replace me.” 

Both of Levi’s hands suddenly clenched at her last comment. Through gritted teeth, he hissed, “It’s not the same…” 

“Why not…?” Kana asked. 

Levi started to say more but instead, quickly stood up, pulling his hand from hers. “You should get back and get some rest.” 

“Levi…” Kana slowly got up and he watched her. “Are you… I mean… Are you saying you care if I die?” 

Levi stared at her with wide eyes for the longest moment before turning quickly away. “Don’t be conceited. You’re nothing special. You’re a soldier and I’m a captain. Whether you live or die makes no difference to me.” 

Kana felt like her world shattered around her. What was she expecting? Did she really think she was something different? That she was anything special? She was just soldier who got lucky. 

And her luck was about to run out.


	8. Famine

For the longest time, they all just stared at her. All of them, barely moving, fixated on her. It was starting to creep her out. They were sitting at the table for lunch and none of them had hardly spoken all day. Clay didn’t even look at his food as he ate, just watched her like a hawk. Leah was within inches of her, waiting for Kana to make some sort of move she could react to. Tsukiko just stared at her, big blue eyes wide with anxiousness. 

Then suddenly… 

“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE. WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!?” Tsuki screamed so loud everyone in the dining hall turned to look. 

Kana looked away. “What do you mean? Didn’t you sleep? I slept.” 

“Smart ass.” Clay retorted. “She means, why did Levi come get you?” 

Leah squeezed Kana’s arm suddenly. “Was it a super-secret mission!?” 

All of them leaned in closer as though it would bring the answer. Heaving a loud sigh, Kana responded with. “If it was, I couldn’t tell you.” 

“SO IT WAS.” Tsuki assumed. 

“No. It wasn’t.” Kana answered. 

“You’re in trouble aren’t you? I’m surprised they didn’t feed you to a titan.” Leah teased. 

“Leah!” 

“No way. I bet it was training. Since you’re Levi’s personal recruit, I bet he’s giving you extra training.” Clay offered. 

“No. Okay, if you guys really have to know, my family is under military protection and I was finally allowed to go see them.” Kana explained. “But don’t tell anyone. It’s a complicated situation.” 

Tsuki smiled. “Aw I’m happy for you. I don’t have a family. My parents took off when I was like… ten.” 

Leah looked around Kana and at Tsuki on her other side. “That’s freaky. My parents ditched me, too.” 

Kana started to open her mouth when Clay’s eyes widened. “Mine… as well…?” 

All four of them stared at each other in shock. Tsuki finally said it. “Whoa, freaky. But, Kana? Your family is still around?” 

Kana spoke slowly. “Just my… siblings… my parents… are gone, too…” 

For the longest time they were all quiet. But Leah finally broke it by saying, “That’s some freaky shit right there.” 

Tsuki suddenly wrapped them all in a hug over the table, causing Clay and Kana to spill their food. Tsuki sang, “It’s like fate has brought us all together! It’s so exciting!” 

Leah started smacking Tsuki’s back and squirmed. “It would be more exciting if I could breathe!” 

“Sorry.” Tsuki laughed, withdrawing her hands. “I’ll let you guys finish eating now.” 

 

__

The sun always rose just as she expected. The moon went through cycles on a routine basis. Animals devoured each other for survival. Humans remained within the walls in order to avoid death by Titans. The world turned and time went on. 

Tsuki sat up. She was sitting at the top of a hill just overlooking the town. She was used to being alone. Since she could remember, her parents were gone. For all her life she traveled from one orphanage to another. Unfortunately, she had a tendency to be fairly destructive. No one had the time or patience for her problems. 

She took a bite of her bread as she climbed up the tree. Everyday she made her way to this spot to watch the sun rise each morning. The warm glow of the sun on her skin reminded her of something she could never have. A calmness, a happiness… a… something she needed. Something this world failed to provide her with. 

But this morning was unlike any other. When the sun came up, it wasn’t happiness that came with it. At first she felt the ground rumble. Then she saw what looked like hundreds of heads break over the horizon. 

Tsuki launched out of the tree. There was no possible way. She was in the innermost district of Wall Maria. Titans could not be here! She ran back into the village and started screaming, “Titans! There’s Titans coming!” 

All of the people of her village either rolled her eyes or scoffed some comment about her being an ignorant child. No one was listening. Gritting her teeth, Tsuki climbed up a pile of crates and shouted, “Everybody run! The Titans are coming!” 

A lady shouted, after ordering to get down, “Get a hobby, you stupid little girl. Do you even know where you are? We’re within the walls. Titans can’t get through the walls.” 

“But they did! I saw them!” Tsuki screamed. 

“Someone get her down!” 

“And shut her up.” 

The woman who had spoken before snapped, “Why don’t you do something more beneficial for all of us and just go disappear?” 

Tsuki’s eyes widened just as a giant hand reached down and scooped up the woman. Time moved slowly as she was lifted into the air and in one swift gulp, the first of the Titans had eaten her whole. The people crowding around the crates all began to scream and run about aimlessly. Tsuki gasped when the sudden horde of moving people overturned the pile of crates, sending her flying into the building behind her. 

She landed on her head and was knocked out almost instantly. She felt sick to her stomach just long enough to hear more people cry out for mercy before she was out for good. 

 

In the darkness of waking, there was no sound but the slow cascading rumbling of footsteps. Slowly she got up, rubbing the back of her head where it was pounding. She felt the crust of dried blood crumble onto her fingertips. At least it had stopped. 

A good portion of the building around her had collapsed, but she, luckily, was unharmed. She crawled out of the window she had tumbled in through and what awaited her caused her throw up on the spot. 

There was blood and broken bodies everywhere. She found arms and legs laying across the streets. Heads were scattered on rooftops and alleys. All of these people were unable to escape the Titans. There must have been thousands of bodies. But then why… why did she survive? Why didn’t a single Titan come in where she had been knocked out? 

Tsuki stopped walking when she rounded a corner. To her horror, two Titans were sitting about a block down the street, taking their time eating a couple humans they must have caught more recently. One of the people were still whimpering in agony; however the weak cries told her that the human was running short on life. She wanted to try to save the person, but what good would it do? They were pretty much dead already anyway, weren’t they? 

Tsuki gasped when abruptly loud footsteps shook the ground from behind her. She spun around in time to see a six-meter class Titan running towards her. A scream ripped from her fifteen year old throat as she scrambled to run away. Before she could even get a few steps away the Titan’s massive fingers had her in its clutch and lifted her into the air. Tsuki struggled but no matter what she did, it wouldn’t let go. Once the fight was drained out of her, she was reduced to nothing but tears. “Please… I don’t wanna die…” 

As the Titan was about to swallow her whole, it stopped suddenly and stared at her in confusion. Tsuki trembled in its giant hand, waiting for the inevitable pain. But the Titan set her back down. 

And it walked on. 

Tsuki stared after the Titan and determined that it was just a stupid one. She prayed to whatever force was above for her life and scurried to the shadows. She made her way as far as she could to wall Rose, but, as it was bound to happen sooner or later, she ran into more Titans. As desperate as she was, she couldn’t out run them. But they, like the one before, ignored her. 

She began to test it on all the Titans she passed. None of them had any interest in her. She kept running and running and running until she finally ran into a group of people packed in the gate way; they were all trying to get into Wall Rose. Would she be able to get in? 

Tsuki’s eyes narrowed. What was she thinking? She had been able escape hordes of Titans. No one was going to stop her from getting in. But then… she wondered why that was. Why were the Titans not interested in eating her? Why did they just ignore her? 

 

Tsuki kept her eyes focused ahead of her, but she found herself continuously distracted. Kana was running in front of her, and, like always she was putting quite the distance on all of them. Tsuki chanced it and sprinted on up, exhausting what little energy she had left. She slowed back down once she caught up. “Hey… Kana…” Tsuki whispered. “Can I ask you something?” 

Kana looked at her, those crimson eyes swirling with curiosity. “What is it?” 

“What would you think… If the Titans ignored a person outright? As in, they appeared to refuse to eat them?” Tsuki questioned. 

Kana stared at her questioningly as they ran. “Well… I don’t know. What do you think it should mean? But, I’ve never heard of that happening, Tsuki.” 

Tsuki laughed humorlessly. “Oh nevermind. Just a dumb question.” 

For the remainder of the day, Tsuki was aware of Kana’s quizzical eyes on her. Did her friend know she was lying? Or was there something more that her eyes weren’t betraying?


	9. Dangerous

“Stop fidgeting!” Tsuki ordered. She had thrown Leah down on her back and pinned her in an arm lock. She glared at her friend while she just laughed and squirmed. 

“I can’t help it!” Leah shouted. “It tickles!!” 

“It’s not supposed to tickle!” Tsuki yelled. “It’s supposed to hurt!” 

“Oh like this?” Leah pushed herself up and got her leg around Tsuki’s neck and yanked her down, slamming her face into the pavement. She then rolled over, sitting her butt on Tsuki’s shoulder blades. “I win!” 

“Cheap shot.” Tsuki grumbled through the dirt. “I want a rematch!” 

“That was like the third rematch. Give it up.” Kana stated, walking up. She started to reach out to them but then stopped. “Do either of you even have the knife prop you’re supposed to be fighting with?” 

Tsuki and Leah looked at each other and they both said at the same time, “I thought you had it?” 

Kana smacked her face as they started laughing. “You two are going to get us all in trouble.” 

Leah blinked and looked around. “Where’s Clay at? Who’d he get matched up with?” 

Kana pointed with her thumb over her shoulder where Clay and Reiner were holding each other back in a perfectly even stalemate. Kana sighed, “They’ve been going at it for fifteen minutes now. I gave up and came over here.” 

“Where’s your partner, Kana?” Leah asked. 

“I’m supposed to be fighting Annie, but like always, she took off.” Kana explained while they walked over to Reiner and Clay. 

Tsuki threw her hand up in the air and whistled, “Go Reiner! You can do it! Knock him flat!” 

“Hey! Shouldn’t you cheer me on!?” Clay puffed, getting distracted long enough that he was able to get Clay’s arm back and horse-collar him to the ground. Clay groaned and sat up. “What kind of friend are you, Tsuki?” 

“An honest one.” Tsuki teased. “Hey Clay, you suck.” 

Clay pointed at her and jumped up. “I could take you down!” 

“Oh scary, you can fight a girl.” Leah teased as well. “That won’t help you against a Titan.” 

“Fighting Reiner is far from fighting a Titan.” Kana commented. “You can’t compare these situations.” 

Tsuki pointed to her temple. “I remember Clay bragging one night about being able to wrestle a Titan to the ground.” 

Reiner gasped and asked, “Are you serious?” 

“I haven’t! But I will!” Clay told them. “Just watch me. With the help of the 3D Maneuver Gear, I’ll fight Titans bare-handed.” 

“It’d be easier with the swords.” Leah corrected. 

“Clay just wants to do things the hard way.” Tsuki told her. 

“Or show-off.” She said back. 

Armin, Mikasa, and Eren trotted up to them while Armin asked, “Aren’t you guys supposed to be practice fighting?” 

“What’s the point? We’re not going to one-on-one combat against Titans. If we’re joining the Survey Corps, we don’t need to know how to fight. Just how to win.” Tsuki corrected. 

“I’m just not practicing anymore cause my partner sucks and won’t admit it.” Leah laughed. Tsuki screamed at her and suddenly the two of them were down on the ground wrestling again. 

“Well looky-there.” Kana stated not even a moment later, spotting Annie walking up through the crowd of trainees. 

Reiner looked at Eren and Clay. “She’s late. Should we remind her about the importance of participation?” 

 

“So this is where you’ve been, Erwin.” Levi commented, walking up to the Commander. 

Erwin was leaning on the rail in the same spot he’d usually gone when supervising the trainees. He was leaned on the rail. He had been watching Reiner and Clay for the longest time, but now things were becoming more interesting. “Shardis informed me that 104th squad had some particularly violent trainees in it. He wasn’t wrong.” 

Levi leaned on the rail beside him. “Any that strike your fancy? You look like a hunter, picking your next prey.” 

Erwin smirked a bit. “Actually. I have honed in on a couple.” 

Levi arched his brows and then followed where his finger pointed. “Reiner Braun and Clay Haugist. They’re incredibly strong. If they end up being skillful with the maneuver gear, they’ll be exceptionally useful.” 

“I see.” Levi commented. Erwin glanced at him and followed where his gaze landed. He chuckled, causing Levi to aggressively demand, “What’s so funny?” 

“I haven’t gotten an opportunity to see your recruit fight yet.” As Erwin spoke, he watched as Annie simultaneous dropped Clay, Reiner, and Eren on the ground. “Hm. What an interesting turn of events.” 

“The blonde one isn’t nearly as strong, but her fighting technique overcomes her own inhibitions.” Levi explained. “It’s a skill in its own right.” 

They watched as Kana shouted something at Annie, stirring both her and Mikasa. In moments, all three of them were facing each other, positioned to fight. Kana taunted Annie and both she and Mikasa flew straight at Kana in the next moment. 

Annie originally went to use the same move on her that she had on Eren and Reiner, but Kana jumped over her leg and spun around to the other side of her, flipping her forward and over Kana’s back as she leaned down, avoiding a punch from Mikasa. Mikasa, who’d been thrown off balance, was now leaning over them both. Kana grinned devilishly as she finished flipping Annie, throwing her right into Mikasa and sending them both to the ground. 

Kana flipped her hair out of her face and hissed, “Was that explanation enough or do you need review as well?” 

Erwin smiled and stood up straight. “I have high hopes for her.” 

Levi watched him walk off before looking back down at the group of trainees. He had looked back in time to see Leah and Tsuki tackle Kana from behind and throw her to the ground as well. His hands clenched on the rail a moment before he, too, walked on. 

 

“You should show me that move!” Leah told Kana while they ate that night. “I wanna flip Reiner.” 

Reiner glared at her. “I really don’t think you could even lift me.” 

Kana commented back to Leah. “Yeah, if you want to flip Reiner, you need to learn Annie’s move. That’s your best hope.” 

Leah pouted. “Oh come on, can’t you flip Reiner, too? Or at least Clay? He looks easier to knock over.” 

“Hey!” Clay snapped. 

“…Is for horses.” Tsuki finished. 

“Stoppit!” Clay ordered. 

“You guys bicker worst then my 6 year old twin sisters.” Kana commented. 

Tsuki and Leah both pointed and said, “He started it.” 

Kana rolled her eyes. She started to make a comment when she heard some talking at the table behind them. She overheard just a couple sentences, “Did you hear about the two guys that got hurting really bad during the endurance exercise today? They were climbing the cliffs and weren’t paying attention. The instructor informed them that they were going to cut the lifelines. All the instructor had to say for it is, ‘if they can’t survive here, they’d be useless against Titans.’” 

Kana sighed and leaned her chin on her hand and started poking at her food. She wondered how her family was doing. She had hoped that she didn’t lie to Camden about not going away for long, but that had been several weeks ago. The thought was too tempting to sneak away and go visit them, but she wasn’t sure how extreme the consequences for that would be. 

 

Most everyone shuffled out of the dining hall by the time night came around. Mikasa had been talking to Eren, but he had walked off, disregarding anything she’d said. Clay was finishing up cleaning off the tables when he noticed she was still sitting in the back by herself. He walked up and asked her, “Why’re you still sitting here?” 

She didn’t answer. 

Clay sighed and sat opposite of her. “You should probably go get some rest. I hear the instructors talking about you all the time. You’re doing exceptionally well. But you always seem sad to me.” 

“Do I?” 

Clay was surprised to finally get an answer out of her. He smiled a bit and said, “Yeah. You’re close friends with Armin and Eren but you always look to me like you’re still upset even with them.” 

She went quiet again. 

“Anything you care to talk about?” Clay asked. 

Mikasa stood up and gave him a warm smile. “Thank you. Maybe another time.” As the black-haired girl walked away, Clay felt his cheeks flush. She had such a beautiful smile. If only her eyes could be filled with happiness instead of bleak sadness. 

 

Leah, Kana, and Tsuki were walking out of the dining hall when they were stopped by figure stepping out of the darkness. Just like before, both Leah and Tsuki bowed a bit and saluted, “Captain Levi.” 

Levi commented to Kana, “You’ve been patient. I expected you to sneak out.” 

Kana glared at him but with a smirk on her face. “I won’t do anything that endangers my family.” 

“I see.” Levi tipped his head. “Let’s go.”


	10. Determined

“This food is gross. Why do we have to eat it?” Camden demanded, banging his spoon on his bowl, sloshing some of the soup out and on the table. 

Kana snapped at him. “Don’t be rude! Just say, ‘thanks sissy! I missed your cooking!’” 

Camden glared back at her. “Your cooking sucks!” 

Kana’s eyebrow twitched. “Your cooking sucks, you little brat!” 

Itski started chanting in sing-song, “Sissy sucks! Sissy sucks! Sissy sucks!” 

Kana gasped, “Itski! That isn’t what we said! Stop that!” 

Camden laughed at his sister’s misinterpretation and started chanting along with her. Kana shouted, “If you don’t stop, I’ll beat all of you!” She paused when she noticed Levi, himself, was chuckling. 

He commented, “I see… your family likes you, but not your cooking.” 

Itski tugged on Levi’s sleeve. “Will you cook so we don’t have to eat sissy’s nasty food?” 

Levi patted her head. “I think you should be nice to her since you haven’t seen her in a long time.” 

Camden set his spoon down. “Why do you keep leaving? If you didn’t have to leave could we eat Levi’s cooking?” 

Kana set the pot down that she’d been scooping their food out of and sat down at the table. She sighed and mussed his hair. “Tell you what. Humor me this one time and then next time, you can talk Levi into cooking for you again.” She looked at Levi and asked, “If that’s okay?” 

Levi gave her a sad smile and said, “Yes, I don’t mind.” His gaze turned back away from her. 

Dinner was as noisy as it started, with all of them complaining about how bad the food was. Kana kept scolding them but it did no good. No matter how much the others talked, though, Levi seemed to remain silent. After they had finished their dinner, she picked up all of their plates and put them in the sink. Before she could even release them from the table, they all ran off to the other room to play games. Kana shouted, “Hey! I did not give you permission to leave the table!” 

Levi set his plate in the sink as well. “That’s my fault. I don’t make them wait.” 

Kana sighed. “It’s fine. They don’t listen to me like they used to, anyway.” She started washing the dishes while Levi stood there, waiting for her to hand them to him so he could dry them off. She paused in handing one of the plates to him. “I don’t mean to bring this up again but… it really seems like there’s something bothering you.” 

“It’s nothing.” Levi stated plainly. 

Kana looked back at the dishes and finished washing them. 

 

Sometime later after everything was cleaned up, Kana walked into the room where the kids were playing. She saw that Camden and Itski were playing with their marbles. It wasn’t until she walked around the couch that she saw where Aya was. She couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips when she saw that her littlest sister was asleep, using Levi’s leg as a cushion. 

He looked up at her. “She’s exhausted.” 

“I see this.” Kana commented. She clapped her hands. “Itski, Camden. Bed time.” 

Camden groaned. “I don’t wanna go to bed!” 

Levi commented, “If you stay up any later, you’ll have to eat more of her food.” 

Kana gasped, “Hey!” 

Camden got up. “Please don’t make me! I’ll go to bed.” He hurried off to his room. 

Kana glared at Levi playfully. “Don’t use my terrible cooking as blackmail.” 

He shrugged and carefully picked up Aya before getting up himself and carrying her to the kids room. He commented, “She isn’t running a fever or anything yet, but I believe she’s catching a cold. She’s seemed sickly the last few days.” 

Kana frowned. “Hopefully it doesn’t get worse.” 

“If it does, I’ll take care of it.” Levi informed, setting her down in the bed as her sister climbed in as well. 

Kana pulled the blanket up over them and tucked each of them in before flipping off the lights. She stretched and headed for the door when she noticed Levi stopped. She looked back at him and asked, “Levi?” 

“If you rank in the top ten in your squad, you can join the military police force.” He explained. “You can take your family to interior and remain there, out of harms way. You will no longer need the protection of the military.” 

Kana watched him closely and asked, “What are you saying, Levi?” 

“It’s a second option. I wanted to make sure you were aware of it.” Levi explained, but he refused to look at her. 

Kana turned back to the door. “No thanks. I made a bet with some friends. I’m looking forward to helping kill the Titans.” 

He clenched his hands into fists. “Is it just some game to you? Do you think fighting Titans is a joke?” 

“No but I – “ 

“One slip up and you’ll die.” Levi told her ruefully. 

“You’re the one that recruited me into this! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” Kana demanded. 

Levi gritted his teeth and started around her and for the door. Kana whispered, “I plan to keep my word as well. I will fight for the Survey Corps just as I promised you. If I went back on my word now, I couldn’t live with myself. You’ve gone above and beyond the call to keep your word and so I have every intention of keeping mine. Even if it costs me my life.” 

Levi placed his hand on the door. “Kana…” 

She turned and looked at him and for the first time, he was looking back at her. His eyes betrayed no emotion and he ordered, “When you’re enlisted, you’re forbidden from dying. Understand?” 

Kana smiled softly and saluted him. “Whatever you say, Captain Levi.” 

 

“Pick up the pace, Leah!” Tsuki shouted back at her friends. They were all using their 3D gear and flying through the forest. Kana was in the lead with Tsuki and Clay shortly behind her and Leah bringing up the rear. 

Kana shouted, “Get ready. When we see our first Titan, I’ll take out the legs, Tsuki and Clay will occupy its attention and wipe out its arms. Leah, you get the kill. Then we’ll switch off!” 

Everyone had just agreed when they broke into a small opening a cardboard titan was lifted right underneath of her. Kana launched her gear upwards, pulling her up into the sky and flipping her around, straight towards the ground. She sank a hook into the Titan’s stomach and reeled herself in until she sliced off its feet at the ankles. 

Tsuki squealed. “Let’s go Clay!” They both launched their gear and swung opposite ways, cutting off it’s arms. 

Leah let out a scream of excitement and did several flips above the Titan before slashing her blade straight through the nape of its neck with ease. “This is easy! I can’t wait to sink my swords into real Titan flesh!” 

 

“This is unbelievable.” Shardis stated, lowering his binoculars. 

“What is it?” Erwin asked. 

Erwin, Pixis, Levi, and several more commanders were standing around, watching how the practices went with the trainees using their gear in action for the first time. 

Shardis cleared his throat. “One squad is flying heads and tails above the rest. Even though they’re just cardboard… They’ve flawlessly taken probably thirty already.” 

Pixis’s eyes widened a bit. “In just one hour?” 

Erwin demanded, “Who’s on the squad?” 

Shardis quickly went through his roster and read, “It’s Tsuki, Clay, Leah, and Kana.” 

Both Erwin and Levi smirked, causing Pixis to ask, “What are you two so cheerful about?” 

Erwin stated, “We have good prospects for the future of the Survey Corps.” 

“They’re ranked high enough in the class.” Shardis stated, “What makes you think they’ll choose the Survey Corps?” 

“Because they have a purpose.” Erwin explained. “You can see it in the way they fight and face challenges. They want to save lives. They want to fight.”


	11. Tsukiko the Warrior

“Now that you’ve completed your training, you have three choices. ‘The Garrison’ which reinforces the walls, thereby protecting all of the towns; ‘the Survey Corps’ prepared to sacrifice their lives outside the walls by defying the Titans in their own domain; and ‘the Military Police Brigade’ which exercises control over the king’s subjects and maintains order. Of course, out of you raw recruits, the only ones who can join the Military Police Brigade are the ten with the highest scores. Soon I’ll be asking you which of the branches you want to join. But as of right now, the 104th trainee corps is disbanded. Dismissed!” 

 

The ceremony took place last night and today they were being sent to help reinforce the walls. Kana rubbed her face as she got out of bed. She had a lot to worry about today. She had been given permission to go home if she wanted since she was officially cleared to enter the Survey Corps and would be official tomorrow. As she brushed her teeth, she kept thinking back to the conversation that took place right after the ceremony. 

 

“Kana.” 

Kana was standing around, chatting with Tsuki, Clay, and Leah when she heard her name called. She turned around, seeing Erwin and Levi walking up to them. This time, all four of them saluted and bowed their heads. Erwin smiled and asked, “These are friends of yours, Kana?” 

Kana nodded. “Yes. This is Tsuki, Clay, and Leah. They’re all exceptional skilled.” 

“So I’ve heard.” Erwin stated. 

Levi added. “We were informed that once the four of you got together, you were heads and tails above the other squads when it came to training.” 

“And you all intend to join the Survey Corps, I hear?” Erwin asked. 

“Yes!” Tsuki straightened up. “We’ve all been discussing it these last few months. We believe we’d make an excellent team. But of course… we know that’s not our call.” 

Erwin smirked. “Don’t worry. We agree. If all goes as planned, then we’ll place you on the same squad.” 

Levi walked up to Kana and stated, “The main reason we’re here is because we’re heading out on an expedition. You’ll have to go home and take care of your family yourself.” He handed her the key. 

“It should only be for a few days.” Erwin explained. “But of course, once you’re in the Corps, you’ll be able to stay with them anytime we’re back in town. You won’t have to wait around on us anymore.” 

Kana dipped her head. “Thank you.” 

They walked away and Erwin gave them a small wave. “Good luck out there, tomorrow.” 

 

Kana yawned as they stood on top of the walls. Most of the soldiers were sitting around in a circle chatting about this and that. She walked around, seeing that Tsuki was chatting with Reiner. Well, flirting was probably more like it. Leah, Clay and Eren’s crew were cracking jokes and laughing. 

Everyone was excited about tomorrow. 

A few minutes later, Sasha walked up. “Hey, fellas…I barrowed a little meat from the senior officers’ private stock…” 

Everyone gasped in surprise. 

Connie shouted, “Sasha, do you wanna get thrown into solitary?!” 

“You really are dumb.” Another soldier agreed. 

“Let’s split it up later. We can slice it and slap it between some bread…” Sasha started to giggle in sheer happiness. 

Another girl commented. “Oh yeah. I guess meat has become really precious since we can’t raise livestock…” 

“Once we recapture Wall Maria, we can raise cows and sheep again.” Sasha explained. 

“So it’s like a celebration in anticipation for taking back the wall.” Thomas stated. One by one, all the soldiers followed suit and agreed to eat some of the meat Sasha brought. 

Kana laughed at everyone’s willingness to break the rules despite them not having taken back the wall yet. Even Tsuki was giggling. “I really want some steak. Let’s make steak!” 

“Good luck finding someone that still remembers how to cook steak.” Clay taunted. 

Kana started to make a comment when she noticed Eren standing up, looking like an idiot. “Eren, what are you doing?” 

“Oh, I was just thinking that – “ 

All of a sudden, a horrendous noise rumbled across the entire area. It looked like a huge lightning bolt struck just outside the wall. As they turned, they came face-to-face with the Colossal Titan. Kana gasped and started to shout something when a huge whirlwind of steam blew all of them off the wall. 

She could feel the whip of the wind all around her as she suddenly began to fall. It was her first moment actually seeing the colossal titan. She had never imagined it’d be so huge. Why had it attacked now? The day they were enforcing the wall? The day before freedom? Why now? 

Kana gasped as she suddenly hit something hard, but to her surprise, it wasn’t the ground. She looked up, seeing that Clay had grabbed both her and Leah before they had fallen too far. 

She looked into his other arm. Leah was in complete shock. Her wide eyes weren’t even in this same location. “Thanks Clay.” 

“Anytime.” Clay let her go and she suspended herself with her gear while he shifted, moving Leah to his shoulder so he could draw his sword. “We need to kill that thing before it disappears. Damn bastard.” 

A loud scream made them both look up. Tsuki was already flipping around in the air. She and Eren were going straight for the Colossal Titan. Kana cheered, “Don’t let it get away, Tsuki!” 

Tsuki and Eren followed suit, running along each arm, trying to get to the nape of the great Titan’s neck. When it swung its arms, they used their maneuver gear to get behind it. When Tsuki went in for the final blow, another eruption of steam pushed her and Eren back. She saw that Eren was sent flying and she dove after him, grabbing his arms and catching herself by sinking a hook back into the wall. By the time she snagged and the steam cleared, the Titan was gone. 

Clay set Leah down on the top of the wall and Kana kneeled down in front of her. “Leah, snap out of it.” 

Leah was trembling. “I-I’ve never seen one before… I-I didn’t realize they were…” 

Kana looked at Tsuki as she landed. “You almost had it.” 

“Almost shmolmost!” Tsuki snapped. Her hand clenched on her blade. “I was within inches…” 

“That doesn’t matter right now.” Clay told her. “Wall Rose has been breeched. We have to stop the Titans pouring in.” He looked around at all the horror-struck faces. “We don’t have many who’re able to fight right now.” 

“All we need is us.” Tsuki shouted. “We’ll defeat them all on our own.” 

Kana helped Leah to her feet and told her. “We can do anything when we’re together.” 

All of them raised their blades. Leah finally snapped herself out of it and agreed, “Then let’s do this.”


	12. Fire and Fury

Two superior soldiers trotted up to the lot of them. “What are you trainees doing?! The strategy for dealing with the Colossal Titan appearance is already in motion. Report to your posts on the double! And if any of you made contact with it, make a report to HQ.” 

“Yessir!” They all shouted. 

As they climbed down the walls, bells started tolling everyone, announcing for everyone to evacuate within the next walls. 

Within an hour they were back beyond the wall, gearing up and accepting orders. As Kana pulled her jacket back on, she looked at Leah. “Are you ready for this?” 

“I don’t know that I’m ready…” Leah whispered. “I don’t know how a person could be ready for something like this…” 

Clay patted her back. “No worries. We’re the best rookie squad there is. We can do anything.” 

Leah nodded and looked at Kana, determination flaring in her eyes. “So. Are we the Trinity Squad or what?” 

Kana looked at her other two friends. Tsuki smiled and held her sword forward. “Trinity Plus One baby.” With a wink, they headed out. 

As they were about to walk out of the headquarters when they were stopped by one of the commanding officers. “You’re Levi’s recruit, right?” 

When Kana nodded, he asked, “I’m putting you in charge of the middle guard. Back up our vanguard. You’ll have multiple squads at your command. Just back them up.” 

Kana dipped her head and they rushed out. Just outside the doors, they met up with several other squads from their training division, including Erens. “Let’s go!” Kana shouted and they switched to their gear and started rushing across Trost to where the Titans were. They were barely halfway across town when they started seeing Titans wandering about. “They’re this far in already?” 

Kana’s eyes widened when she heard a scream from the back left flank. She flipped around so she was flying backwards. A smaller type Titan had been lurking between buildings and jumped up, grabbing one of her soldiers. Before he was swallowed whole, Kana recognized Thomas. 

She felt her heart beginning to go wild in her chest. Just like that, they’d already lost someone. They had less than fifty men in their squads and within seconds, one was already dead. Was it her fault? Could she have prevented it? Was she making the wrong moves? 

Could they fight real Titans? 

“KANA!” 

Kana gasped when Tsuki screamed her name. She spun around in time to see a Titan fly right at her, wide jaws open, ready to swallow her in one bite. She raised her arms, prepared for the worst when a pressure hit her from the side, knocking her out the Titan’s path straight into a rooftop. She crumpled down the roof and fell to the ground, panting. Above her, Leah was still sitting on the roof. Kana breathed. “Th-thanks… Leah…” 

Leah stared back down at her. Time seemed to stand still around them both. For a moment, Kana felt as though they could pass their thoughts to each other. They both questioned if they should be there. If they should be standing here, defending these soldiers. All Kana wanted was a peaceful life for her family. If she had to give her life to do it, she would. 

But would giving her life help at all? 

A rumble made her look away from Leah and down the road. A Titan was running straight towards her. Her legs were frozen to the ground. She couldn’t find any will to move. Why? 

Was she just throwing her life away? 

Was she scared? Why couldn’t she find the will to fight the damn Titans? She had practiced so many times as a trainee. But now that she was actually facing them, she was weak. 

She was useless. 

Before she knew it, the Titan was upon her. 

 

Tsuki looked at Clay and shouted, “What is going on with those two?!” 

Clay gritted his teeth and kept focused ahead. “I’m guessing she got weak-kneed, too.” 

Tsuki trembled. “Do you think that Titan…?” 

“All we can do is hope not.” Clay told her. “We have a job. There are hundreds of people stuck in these walls and we have to protect them.” 

Tsuki looked ahead as a Titan was climbing on a roof. “Straight ahead.” She drew both of her swords and launched herself into the air. “I’ll knock the mother fucker off the roof, you take it from there!” 

Clay shot himself down, just inches off the street and circled back up on the other side of the building. Tsuki went straight up, then hooked back down into the roof. She swung around and struck her swords across its face. The Titan recoiled and fell off the edge of the roof just as Clay swung by, cutting out the nape of its neck and sliding to a stop. He looked up at the tower and check the time. “12:05. First Titan kill is mine.” 

Tsuki glared and pointed at him. “I get credit for an assist!” 

Clay rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, let’s go.” Both of them started flying through the streets, looking for the next Titan. 

“Honestly, I’m surprised you were even able to land that hit. I figured you would have over shot its neck since you’re so damn bad with your gear.” Tsuki teased. 

Clay glared at her. “And that’s the only thing you’re any good at.” 

Tsuki launched herself into the air, doing a flip and coming back down in time to slash a hidden Titan across the neck. She spun back up and danced in the air. “I at least got the second kill!” 

“Good for you.” Clay stated monotone. “Keep your eyes peeled. We need to check for any survivors and keep the Titans from advancing. Let’s loop around and knock out the advancing line so we can give the escaping people more time to get out.” 

“Right.” Tsuki agreed, turning around in air and shooting back the way they had come. 

 

“KANA! MOVE!!” Leah screamed. 

Kana looked up at her friend as the Titan’s hand wrapped around her body. What was she fighting for? She closed her eyes as she was lifted into the air. For a moment, behind her eyelids she saw her siblings; her aunt and uncle. She envisioned them all eaten alive by these giant freaks. 

Kana opened her eyes, looking directly into the mouth of the Titan. She felt an electricity run through her body and her crimson eyes caught fire. She ripped her blades free and sliced the Titan’s hand into thirds. But in the same move she spun around, striking both blades through the Titan’s neck and cutting its head clear off. 

Kana landed on its unmoving body and swiped her blade free of the blood. She looked up at the tower clock. “12:01,” Kana said to herself before jumping up on the rooftop with Leah. “Are you okay?” 

Leah stared at her in shock. “K-Kana? There’s… red lines on your skin…Where… did those come from?” 

Kana looked at the palm of her hand. Sure enough, there were red glowing lines going up each of her fingers, drawn a pattern on her palm and then up along the inside of her forearm. “I don’t know. We’ll worry about it later. Right now, we’ve got more important things to worry about. Let’s rendezvous with Tsuki and Clay and push these Titan’s back.” 

Leah nodded and got to her feet. “Right!” Almost on cue, they heard screaming and shouts coming from the other direction. Leah’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s start there!” 

Both of them turned and, using their maneuver gear, raced towards where they heard the scream. As they got closer, Kana saw that Eren was on the roof… and he looked… dead. Kana landed and looked at him. “Eren? Hey… Eren…” She got a good look at his leg and she winced. “Jeez… that looks bad…” 

Kana watched as Leah continued on past her to where the other squad members were screaming. The squad was taking on a Titan but by the time Leah got there, it had eaten one and knocked out the others for the other Titan’s surrounding it to devour. Leah let out a scream of hatred and circled around using her gear. She found a perfect shot and launched herself straight through the middle of them, killing them in one swift, double-edged, blow. She looked around quickly. “Where is Armin?!” 

Kana looked around frantically as well. She spotted the small boy hanging from the grasp of an older looking Titan. “Leah! That tower!” She shouted, pointing towards Armin. 

Leah spun around and started racing over to him but she was cut off by Eren suddenly flying in front of her. She gasped, “What?!” 

Kana got to her feet, trying to fly after him but the boy was in such a rage that she had no hope of getting anywhere near him. “Dammit! Eren!” 

The old Titan dropped Armin down his throat but Eren was right there. He leaned into the Titan’s mouth and pulled the small blonde boy out. Leah swung by, catching him and setting him on the roof. “Eren!” 

Both Leah and Kana shot by, trying to grab his outstretched arm, but the Titan clamped down and the arm fell uselessly to the ground. Both of them caught themselves on buildings but it was too late. Eren was already in the Titan’s stomach and most likely bleeding out. Kana ordered, “Take Armin and get him out of here! I’ll take care of the Titans in this area!” 

Leah nodded and swung down, grabbing Armin and flying off.


	13. Battlecry

Leah set Armin down with a group of other squad members and gently shook him. “Armin. Armin… wake up.” 

Armin’s eyes finally came into focus and he started to scream hysterically. Leah gasped and wrapped her arms around him. “Armin, calm down! Please! Take a breath, it’s okay. I’m scared too.” 

Armin was trembling, tears racing down his face. “E-eren… Eren is…” 

Leah gently squeezed him and whispered, “Take a breath. Several of our friends have died already, I know. But we have to keep fighting. We can’t let their deaths be in vain…” 

Armin was finally able to catch his breath while Ymir walked up to them and asked, “So that squad was totally wiped out, huh?” 

Leah nodded her head. “Unfortunately…” 

Ymir rolled her eyes and asked, “Why did you even go to the effort of rescuing this loser? And where is your squad anyway?” 

Leah got to her feet and glared at her. “You have some nerve you bitch. He is not a loser! Everyone here is giving their lives. You have no right to talk bad about anyone here!” 

Krista got between them and said, “Stop it! We’re all frazzled. And yelling at each other won’t make this any better for anyone.” 

Leah looked away and wondered how the others were doing. Should she jump back in and try taking on the Titans one on one? Or should she stay here and protect the others? Kana had told her to save as many lives as she could. Then she should wait here and fend off the Titans that came after them this way. “Please guys… stay alive…” 

 

After what felt like several hours, Leah stood up, seeing a group of people heading to their roof top. Her eyes brightened. “Back up?” 

Jean and several others from their training squad landed. Jean cursed, “Of course. This is about as far as we could go.” 

Connie frowned and asked him. “Are you out of gas, too?” 

Jean nodded. “We’re finally told we can evacuate and there’s nothing we can do. Those damn cowards abandoned their supply mission and are holed up in HQ. We’re going to die because of them.” 

Leah glared at him. “You can’t be so sure of that. We’re not dead yet.” 

“What are we supposed to do!?” Jean demanded. 

“We fight!” She snapped back. 

“With what!?” Jean asked. He pointed his finger to the supply HQ. “There are Titans climbing all over that building. We can’t even get there to refill our gas.” 

Connie stepped in. “Then we give it our all to fight those Titans over there. If we just wait around here, it’ll be the same thing! One way or another we’ll be swarmed by Titans. If we just try to pointlessly escape then we’ll run out of gas first. Once we’re completely out of gas, we’re really screwed.” 

Leah felt her heart sinking. Not even Squad Trinity could fight all these Titans without their 3D gear. Were they really this screwed? Wasn’t there anything they could do? Were her friends held up safe somewhere or were they all out of luck? 

Were her friends even alive? 

Now she was feeling sick to her stomach. She could imagine how Armin was feeling, having seen his friend die before his eyes. She was getting a stomach ache just thinking about it. 

Jean sighed. “You’re using your head for once, Connie. But do you really think we could take them on with this many troops? Most of the advance guard has been wiped out…who among us in the training corps could take command of a desperate situation like this? I guess it doesn’t matter. Even with a leader we wouldn’t be able to do anything against the Titans… I bet the place is even filled with Titans. There’s no way we’d be able to fight them inside of there.” 

Connie dropped his hands. “This really is hopeless, isn’t it?” 

A few moments later, Mikasa landed on the roof beside Leah and Armin. “I think I have grasp of the situation. We’re all running low on gas.” She looked at Armin and asked. “Where is Eren?” 

Leah stiffened. “Mikasa…Eren is…” 

Mikasa’s hands clenched into fists. “I should have known…” 

“Look, Mikasa, we have to – “ Leah started just as rumble shook the building. They all looked over as Titan climbed onto the roof they were all standing on. Several of the soldiers closest to the Titan screamed in fear and ran away. Leah drew her blade and started to run at it when suddenly the Titan flopped over, blood spraying from its neck. 

Clay and Tsuki flipped in the air and landed on the roof, bodies and weapons covered in blood. Tsuki laughed. “35 kills in one day. Not bad.” 

“I beat you. 19 of those are mine.” Clay told her. 

“Yes, but I got more single handedly than you did.” Tsuki retorted. “I’m a master at this. You’re just a good fighter.” 

Leah shrieked with happiness. “You guys are alive!” She ran up to them and hugged them both. “Thank god, I was worried sick!” 

Tsuki smiled. “We were worried about you guys, too. We were doing really good, but I noticed we’re running extremely low on gas. I’m surprised we made it to you guys, actually.” She paused and looked around. “Wait… is this all there is? Where’s Kana?” 

Leah looked down. “I don’t know. We split up… I was expecting her not to be far behind me. But… she hasn’t come back yet…” 

Clay glared and looked across the streets. “Damn. She’s got to be out of gas by now…” 

“What should we do?” Leah asked, looking expectantly at Tsuki. 

Tsuki rubbed the back of her head. “Being as we’re out of gas, there’s not much we can do.” 

“If we could make it to HQ…” Leah started. 

“Tsuki and I may not even have enough to get there. I’m sure some of the others are in the same situation.” Clay told her. “Not to be a downer or anything…” 

Mikasa stood to her feet. “Those with enough gas will go then.” She withdrew her sword and walked to the edge of the building. “I don’t care if I have to do it alone. I’ll get rid of those Titans. Because I am strong… stronger than any of you… extremely strong. And that’s why I’ll be able to drive the enemy out of there. Even on my own. But I guess all of you are useless, cowardly… pathetic. Stay here and suck your thumbs while you watch me.” 

One of the soldiers shouted, “Do you mean you’re going to fight them alone!?” 

“If I can’t do it… I’ll just die. If I can, I win. If I don’t fight, I can’t win.” Mikasa explained. 

Clay smirked and shouted, “I like that spirit.” He pointed down the street about two blocks. “Tsuki. There’s two fallen soldiers down there. If we’re lucky, they didn’t use much of their gas. We’ll trade them… and we’ll help Mikasa take down those Titans.” 

Tsuki looked at Mikasa. “Can you wait that long?” 

Mikasa nodded just ever so slightly. Tsuki and Clay exchanged a look before shooting down and flying down the street. They were blind-sided by a Titan but, reacting instantly, Clay slashed across it’s ankles and Tsuki sliced open its neck as it collapsed. Without missing a beat, they continued to the dead bodies where they switched out gas tanks. 

Leah watched them, keeping her eyes out for more Titans. “Kana… where ever you are… you had better still be alive.” She gripped her blades tightly and whispered, “Because we’re making a break for the walls now. I better find you on the other side…”


	14. Given Up

Kana threw another set of blades on the ground and ran her hand through her blood clotted hair. The street she was walking down was cluttered with dead Titans behind her. She linked up two new blades and grumbled. “These things are such a nuisance. And I’m low on gas.” She looked ahead as a Titan came around the corner and headed for her. When it reached to grab her, she cut its hand open, then flipped up onto its arm and ran up to its neck where she cut it open and rode it to the ground. 

“I wonder how everyone else is doing.” Kana questioned. She gasped when a Titan ran at her from behind. It slammed its hand into the ground and she used her maneuver gear just in time to avoid the hit. She flipped off the wall and around the neck of the Titan, cutting it open and dropping to the ground. “Fuck. I’m out.” She sighed and pulled her gear off. “May as well lighten the load.” She looked back at the wall. “I wonder if I could make it there.” 

 

Tsuki, Leah, Clay, and Mikasa were charging head-first for the HQ. Tsuki shouted, “Leah, keep your eyes peeled for Titans. You’ve got the sharpest eye.” 

“Got it.” Leah agreed. 

“How much gas do you think you have left?” Clay asked Mikasa. 

Mikasa just shrugged, but kept her eyes forward. 

Tsuki heard a lot of shouting from behind them and when she looked back, she saw all of the trainees were swooping in behind them. She couldn’t help but smile, “Hey Mikasa, your terrible speech got everyone moving.” 

Mikasa started chopping through the Titans that ran down the street with support from the others. It was only after a few minutes though that her 3D gear sputtered out and she flew onto a rooftop. 

“Mikasa!” Clay shouted. 

Tsuki ordered, “Go help her, I got it here. We will get to HQ.” 

Clay nodded and flipped and went back towards where Mikasa was. 

Armin looked at Leah and asked, “Do you really think we can do it?” 

Leah closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Yes. I know we can. If we weren’t low on gas, I’d have no doubts, but right now…I still think we can.” 

 

By the time Clay found Mikasa, she was on her knees on the ground. Two Titans were moving in on her from either side but she wasn’t doing anything to defend herself. He swung down and grabbed a hold of her. “Mikasa! What are you doing!?” 

Mikasa trembled and whispered, “I lost my family again…Eren…” 

Clay landed on the roof and scolded, “That doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to just give up! What would they think if you died!? There are more people who need you to stay alive. I’m sure Eren would agree if he could.” 

Mikasa stared at him in shock. “But I… what if I lose…?” 

“Then you try harder the next time.” Clay told her. “You try and try and try and try until you can’t anymore. But you don’t ever give up. The moment you give up, you let down everyone who wanted to see you succeed.” 

Mikasa gripped the sleeves of his jacket. “Th-thank you…” 

Clay started to tell her something else when the rumbling behind them suddenly got louder. He looked back to see that one of the Titans, the one with brown hair, had swung its fist straight into the other Titan, ripping its head off and then proceeded to trample it until it was for sure dead. 

Clay and Mikasa stared with wide eyes. “H-how?” 

“I don’t care how. It’s fighting other Titans, I won’t complain.” Clay stated, helping her to her feet. 

Leah and Armin landed beside them. Armin shouted, “Hey, are you okay?” 

“Tsuki sent us back to check on you guys.” Leah explained. 

Mikasa pointed at the brown haired Titan. “That Titan… is fighting the others.” 

Armin’s eyes widened. “What?” 

“Are you serious?” Leah asked. 

When they all turned to look, that Titan fighter punched the other Titan so hard that its head flew off, over them and into another building. It then proceeded to start stomping on the base of its neck to be sure it was dead. 

Armin gasped, “It’s intelligent.” 

Clay waved his hand. “Come on. Let’s go. Mikasa, I’ll carry you since you’re out of gas. But let’s get a move on and back Tsuki up.” 

“Wait!” Armin shouted. “I have a plan… If that Titan is ignoring us… and fights other Titans…” He shuffled. “It might be crazy but… what if we led that thing to HQ?” 

“Brilliant.” Clay commented. “How do you suppose we do that?” 

“I got ya.” 

All of them looked over as Titan collapsed in the alley where Mikasa had been. On top of the fallen Titan’s head, Kana stood, swinging around her blades. She looked up at them, majority of her face covered in blood and a devious grin on her lips. “I just gotta lead him to HQ right?” 

Leah felt like crying. “Kana… you’re…alive…” 

“Where in the hell is your gear!?” Clay yelled. 

“It became useless a while back.” Kana explained, walking towards the other Titan. “So I ditched it to lighten up. Am I right, though, Armin?” 

Armin nodded. “We just need to find some way to get it to the other Titans. If all goes well… it’ll take care of the rest.” 

Kana pulled off the tattered remains of her jacket so all she had was a cut-up tank top and half-shredded gloves. “I got this. You guys get on to help those already fighting.” She ran towards the Aberrent Titan but circled around its feet until she saw what she wanted. A little fat Titan was in the corner of a street. When it saw her, it ran right at her. Kana took off towards the other Titan but ran on by and towards HQ. The larger Titan let out a loud scream of rage and ran after the Titan chasing Kana. 

Kana smirked. “Too easy.” 

 

Jean was standing on a rooftop frozen solid. He gritted his teeth. “We can’t even get close to HQ unless we’re willing to sacrifice our lives.” When he looked down into the street, he saw someone just standing there and then he realized he was out of gas. “I can’t…” 

Several other soldiers all flew at the Titans that were converging on the guy, but they were all grabbed and were beginning to be eaten. Jean trembled when out of nowhere, a blue flash shot by him. 

No. It wasn’t a blue flash. 

Tsuki circled around the Titans either two or three times, slaughtering all the Titans in just a few blows. She landed beside Jean and cursed. “I wasn’t fast enough.” She looked at him. “Are you okay? Are you out of gas?” 

Jean looked down. “N-no I’m not…” 

Reiner trotted up to them as well. “Great job, Tsuki. Now what do we do?” 

Tsuki narrowed her eyes. More and more Titans were converging on these corpses. Jean grabbed her shoulder. “We should go now. While they’re occupied… let’s make our comrades deaths worth something. We’ll get to HQ while the Titans are distracted.” 

Tsuki dipped her head and shouted for everyone to charge. 

Everyone flew through as quickly as they could. There were a couple close calls but Tsuki doubled back and freed her friends. Before she knew it, all of them were bursting in through the glass of HQ. 

Jean gasped. “H-how many made it? H-how many died…” 

Tsuki touched his back. “Jean…” She gave him a warm smile. “You did well… you saved a lot of lives.” 

A red flush spread through his face as he gazed upon her beautiful face. “Tsukiko….” 

Tsuki looked over and saw that the supply squad was cowering under their desks. Her eyes narrowed. “You sons of bitches. There are people dying out there because you chose to just hide under your damn desks! What the fuck is the matter with you!?” She drew her sword. “If I didn’t know any better then I’d – “ 

Reiner wrapped his arms around her arms and cooed, “Easy girl. We don’t need to spill the blood of our own people.” 

“I don’t consider those traitors people!” 

“I know, easy, easy.” Reiner told her. 

Jean started to comment when he glanced out the windows. “Get away from the wall!” 

Before they knew it, a face burst through the wall, sending a gust of wind, knocking all of them back. 

Everyone ran to the opposite side of the room but Jean just stood there, staring in shock and horror. Tsuki ran back and wrapped an arm around him. “Why aren’t you moving, Jean!?” She started to pull him back when she saw the Titans peeking through the hole. 

In the next moment, a fist had taken their place. “What the hell!?” She rushed to the hole and looked out. A giant brown-haired Titan was attacking the Titans around the building. And on its shoulder, Kana was waving. “What the fuck are you doing!?” 

“I got me a pet!” Kana winked with a smile but suddenly her face grew serious. “This guy likes to fight Titans. But I’m sticking close in case he runs out of targets and changes his mind. You’re in charge. Make sure everyone gets refueled and gets to safety. Save these soldiers, got it?” 

Tsuki nodded. “You got it.” She was still slightly shocked at what she was seeing, but she turned and faced the others as Leah, Clay, Mikasa, and Armin burst through the windows as well. “Okay guys, time for Operation: Rescue!”


	15. Rescue Operation

“It’s okay.” Tsuki explained. “That Titan is stronger than the average Titan. As long as its throwing them down outside, this building should be relatively safe.” She looked up as they walked down the stairs to the storage room. The people who had been hiding under their desks had said that 3-4 meter class Titans had infiltrated it. 

“How much do you know about that Titan?” Reiner asked curiously. 

“Let’s discuss it after we’re safe?” Leah stated. 

Reiner nodded. “Right. Safety first.” He looked at Tsuki. “So what are we gonna – “ 

“Found them!” Clay shouted. He and several others walked out of a room all carrying a bunch of boxes of guns and ammunition. “Military Police Brigade supplies…kinda dusty though.” 

Jean was investigating one of the guns. “Will buckshots even do anything… against Titans?” 

Tsukiko looked at Armin who shuffled a bit. He said, “I think it’s a lot better than having nothing. And even with this degree of fire power…it isn’t impossible to incapacitate the seven Titans occupying the supply room and all at the same time. First we use the lift to lower most of us from the ceiling. If those Titans are ‘normals’, a large number of people should be enough to draw them to the center of the room. Next the people in the lift will fire at the Titans’ faces simultaneously...blinding them. And then the next instant will decide everything. Seven people hiding in the ceiling will swoop in, in time with the shots, and slash the Titan’s vital spot. In other words, everything rides on this one attack. Every ones lives are at stake.” 

Tsuki clapped her hands and stood up. “Alright then. Everyone get your guns and our seven best 3D gear users arm yourselves!” 

Armin gasped, “W-wait! Is this really the best plan?” 

Leah touched his hand and squeezed softly. “It’s fine Armin. We know what’s at stake. It’s the best plan we have and it’ll save every one’s lives. Now all you have to do is trust us. We’ll survive.” 

Armin nodded. “O-okay.” 

Everyone laughed and told jokes while walking down the stairs. Reiner commented that shoving a sword up the Titan’s asshole would kill them. Connie gasped about not knowing that. Tsukiko glared at him and said, “Don’t lie. He’ll try it and get himself killed!” They started laughing harder. 

But once they got to the supply room and lift, everything was silent. 

Most of everyone was positioned with their guns in the lift while Tsukiko, Clay, Leah, Reiner, Annie, Mikasa, and Jean were in the rafters, ready to strike the Titans down. 

For the longest time, all Tsuki could hear was the furious pounding of her own heart. It seemed like nothing else was moving; nothing else was happening. One of the Titans looked at everyone in the lift. Slowly, they all began to walk towards them. 

When the cue to fire was given, everything was just a flash of movement, the repetitive sound of explosions made her ears feel like they were bleeding. But she moved quickly and efficiently. She knew that she and all of her teammates could do it. 

In the next moment that she could comprehend anything, all of the Titans were laying on the ground: dead. 

Clay ran a hand through his hair and laughed. “Easy peasy.” 

All of them started shouting to get out of the room when Mikasa jumped up towards the window and through it. Clay gasped and went after her. “What are you doing, Mikasa!?” 

Armin, Leah, and Tsuki gave chase and all of them stood on the roof. The scene before them was like one straight out of a horror film. Several other Titans were all on top of the one that had been fighting. They were eating him. 

“C-cannibalism?” Armin questioned. 

“That’s sick.” Leah commented. 

Tsuki felt her heart fall into her stomach. “Where is Kana?” 

Both Clay and Leah started looking around. But Jean jumped on the roof along with everyone else. “What are you guys doing!? We need to get out of here!” 

Mikasa commented, “If we could catch that Titan, we could learn something from it…” 

“Then we should catch it.” Reiner stated. “We’ll kill the Titans on it first.” 

Jean shouted, “No! We’ve been given the order to retreat! We have to go!” 

Armin pointed down at the street. “L-look! It’s the Titan that ate Thomas…!” 

Like a trigger went off, the Titan that was being devoured charged at the new one, biting out its neck in one swift move. 

It was then able to shake off the other Titans and let out a scream before finally collapsing to the ground. After a moment, the skin around its neck began to dissipate and a person leaned up out of it. 

Clay’s eyes widened. “It’s Eren.” 

Mikasa raced down to him as well as Armin. 

Jean looked at everyone. “Then… Eren did this?” 

“I don’t know what this means…” Tsuki stated. She looked around once more. “But then… Did Kana not make it?” 

“She had to have!” Leah shouted. “She’s somewhere down there!” 

Tsuki and Clay grabbed her arms when she started to jump off the building. “Stop. We have to follow orders and get back. We’ll explain what happened and then get permission to come back and search. If she survived this long by herself, I have no doubts that she can go a little longer.” 

“But… Kana…” 

“I don’t wanna leave her either, Leah!” Tsuki told her. “But come on. We have to save the survivors we have now.” 

 

A Titan was munching on a soldier. The guy growled, “Just you watch… one of these days… one of these days…humans are going to destroy you… the human race will be the survivors. You all are nothing… to Captain Levi.” 

Suddenly a blur passed by the back of the Titan, slicing open the back of its neck. It collapsed and Levi landed on the rooftop opposite of it. He looked ahead after glancing back at his fallen soldier and saw a Titan on the right and two on the left. 

A girl landed beside him. “Captain Levi, I’ve gathered reinforcements.” 

Levi ordered her, “Petra, look after the soldiers below! Whoever’s left, send them after the one on the right.” He shot towards the left Titans. “I’ll clean up on the left.” When he got to the first Titan, he wrapped his wire around its neck and cut it almost in half. Then it went for the next one. He threw his two blades in its eyes and then landed on its head. “Whoa, stay still. If you don’t, I’ll never get a clean cut…” 

He slashed down the back of its neck and then landed on the roof again. He glared at his blood covered hand. “Damn. I got it dirty.” Pulling out a cloth, he wiped off the hilt of his blade as he walked up to Petra and the fallen soldier. 

Petra looked up at him exasperatedly, “Captain…the bleeding won’t stop…” 

Levi kneeled beside them as the soldier whispered, “Captain… was I of any use to the human race…? Or am I gonna die useless…?” He reached his hand up to Levi. 

“You’ve done more than enough. And you’ll do more.” Levi stated suddenly grabbing his hand. “The resolve you leave behind will give me strength. I swear to you… I will eradicate the Titans.” 

“Captain…” Petra whispered, “He’s gone…” 

“Did he hear me… to the end?” Levi asked. 

“Yes, I’m sure he did.” She assured. “He looks like he’s sleeping peacefully.” 

“Good then.” Levi stated, standing up. He looked over as Erwin trotted up on his horse. 

He announced, “We’re retreating.” 

Levi glared at him. “What? We haven’t even made it to the border yet. Are my men dying in vain? I’m sure you have a good reason for this?” 

“The Titans are heading toward town. They’re moving northward as a group.” Erwin explained. “Just like five years ago. I’m afraid… the wall may be been broken again.” 

Levi’s eyes widened and his blood ran cold. “N-no.” 

Petra frowned and commented, “Oh no. They had all of those new trainees backing up the Garrison today…” 

Within moments, the Survey Corps were on their horses and galloping back towards town. Levi clutched his reins tight in his hands. Kana… you better not be dead… 

 

“It’s safest to assume she’s dead. We can’t send a squad back in after one person.” One of the commanding officers informed. 

Leah screamed, “What do you mean!? What if she is alive!?” 

“And how many would have to die to go back for her?” The man demanded. “Besides, what’s the likelihood? According to your report…she didn’t even have maneuver gear on. You really think she’d survive in Titan territory?” 

“I know that she’s alive you dumb bastard!” Tsuki screamed. 

“If you just let us three go back, we won’t die!” Clay shouted. 

“My final answer is no.” The man stated and harshly turned away.


	16. Protesting

“I can’t just sit here…” Leah whispered. “Let’s just take a couple tanks and go back in!” 

“Leah, stop.” Tsuki snapped. “If Kana were alive, do you know how pissed she’d be if you ruined everything for yourself by disobeying orders and going back?” 

“Then you just want to leave her to die!?” Leah asked. 

Tsuki looked down. “I…” 

“They’ll have to put up a border patrol eventually.” Clay informed. He was looking at the wall. “If we get set on a patrol… no one would notice if we slipped on over the wall.” 

Tsuki felt a little flicker of hope before she doused it with water. “But… who knows how long that will be? And how do we make sure we can get on it?” 

“Maybe they’ll ask for volunteers. I doubt anyone else is anxious to get back over there.” 

Tsuki nodded. “All we can do is hope.” 

Leah jumped a bit when she saw the gate open. “Hey look.” 

 

Erwin scowled as he looked around at all the horror-struck and frazzled faces. “It’s as bad as I expected.” 

Petra commented. “Everyone is so scared. And there were so many Titans within the walls already. I can imagine how bad of a battle it must have been.” 

“I wonder how many we lost?” Levi added, but his eyes were scanning the crowds of soldiers. He just needed to see her. To see some reassurance. 

The sound of screaming children filled the air, causing all of them to look over to see what was going on. Levi’s eyes widened when he saw a couple of the soldiers carrying Aya and Itski and desperately trying to keep Camden under control. Levi leapt off his horse and rushed over, ignoring his shouting commander. He demanded to the soldiers, “What in the hell are you – “ 

“Levi! Levi!” Camden screamed. “Tell them it’s not true! Tell them my sister isn’t dead!” 

“Shut up, brat!” The soldier ordered, about to hit him when Levi yanked him out of his reach. 

Levi tried to keep his rage and his welling emotions under control. He didn’t want to ask the next question. But he had to. “Officer. What is going on, here?” 

The man straightened up. “Captain Levi. These children were under military protection so long as Kana Silrause was on active duty. She has been reported KIA so we’ve pulled the children from the home. We’ll relocate them – “ 

Levi grabbed the officer by the collar and demanded, “Relocate them where!? They’re children! You’ll let them die!?” 

“Captain…” 

Levi turned around, seeing the two girls he recognized as Kana’s friends. The smaller one with lavender hair hoarsely asked, “You came through Trost… right? Didn’t you… Didn’t you run across Kana? She’s still back there…” 

Levi stiffened and then looked down. “I…” 

Erwin jumped off his horse and told Leah, “There were no survivors back there. I’m sorry.” 

“She has to be! She’s not dead!” Leah started screaming. “Tell them to let us go back there! We can save her!” 

Erwin sighed and kneeled down. “We can’t let you do that. We can’t let you sacrifice your own life at a slim chance that she might be alive.” 

“Sir.” 

They turned to one of the military officers who walked up. He handed Erwin the report and said, “According to the report they gave us. When she was last seen, she had already abandoned her maneuver gear. So she has no way of defending herself against the Titans. The chances of her still being alive are…none at all.” 

Erwin stood up. “Then the decision is final. Do as your superiors order.” 

Leah started screaming again but Tsuki held her back. “That’s enough Leah, let it go!” 

Erwin started to walk back to the horses but stopped and looked back at Levi. “Let’s go. There’s work to be done.” 

Levi’s hands were clenched tightly in fists. “Yes.” 

“Sorry your recruit didn’t work out.” Erwin told him. 

“It’s fine.” Levi hoarsely answered, starting to head back to the horses. 

“Levi! Levi!” Camden grabbed the back of his poncho. “Are you going to go get my sister? Tell her to stop playing games!” 

Levi looked down at him sadly and rubbed his hair. “I’ll tell her to stop, brat. Go home.” He glared at the officer holding the other two kids. “I don’t care what your orders are. Take those children back to their home. They remain under our protection no matter what, understand?” 

They all straightened up, “Yessir!” 

One of them pulled a screaming Camden back and escorted the children back home. 

 

After an hour or so, an anxious Clay jumped up. “I’m gonna go see what’s going on.” 

Tsuki looked at him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Everyone is so high-strung right now.” 

“Which makes me think they’re going to do something stupid.” Clay stated, walking off. 

 

Erwin looked back at Levi as they walked. “Levi.” 

“Sir?” 

“What’s on your mind?” Erwin asked. “I’ve never seen you this distraught before.” 

He looked away. “It’s nothing.” 

 

Kana collapsed against a pillar inside of a wrecked building. “Damn. As much as I love killing these bastards… I’d like a break…” She looked out the window, just barely able to see the wall. “I guess I should head back…maybe someone will let me in.”


	17. Risen

Clay stopped when he saw half of the brigade with their guns raised pointed at Mikasa, Armin, and Eren. He rushed over to the commanding officer. “What are you doing!?” 

“Stand back soldier.” The commander ordered. “This matter does not concern you.” 

“You’re pointing guns at our soldiers! I believe it concerns me and everyone else! Put those weapons down.” 

“How dare you speak to a superior this way!?” He turned away from Clay and yelled. “This is your last chance, are you human or are you titan!?” 

“I’m… Human!” Eren yelled as loud as he could. 

The commander raised his hand and sighed, “Then I apologize. But no one can prove they are not the devil…” 

Clay’s eyes widened when he realized that this was the signal to fire. He charged forward, towards the others. Just as he got to the three of them, Eren bit his thumb and a huge explosion surrounded them all. After the smoke cleared, he saw that he, Mikasa, and Armin were inside of a half-formed Titan. 

Clay’s eyes narrowed. “Eren saved us for the moment, but they’ll fire another blast if we don’t convince them.” 

Mikasa asked him, “Then what should we do?” 

“I’ll talk some sense into them. You guys think of a way to escape.” Clay stood up and waited for the smoke to clear. When it did, he was surprised to see the Commander of the Garrison standing beside the other one. 

Commander Pixis lowered his hand. “Enough. I don’t appreciate you firing at my fellow soldiers. I’m not sure if you’re aware but Mikasa and Clay are one of the few reasons so many people survived the Titan attack on Trost.” 

“They’re a danger to humanity! We must destroy them before they destroy us!” 

Pixis smiled without humor. “I’m not asking. Lower your weapons. Now.” 

Immediately everyone followed the order and Pixis asked Eren to follow him and discuss a few things. Clay was surprised to see that Commander Erwin and Captain Levi also joined for the ‘talk’. 

Mikasa clenched her hand into a fist. “I swear if they try anything.” 

Clay took her hand. “Easy. They won’t kill him. I saw the look in Pixis’s eyes. He has a plan.” 

Mikasa relaxed and looked down. “Thank you… again…” 

 

Some time later, they came back and announced to the soldiers that they had a plan. Erwin explained that they wanted Eren to plug up the hole with the giant boulder and that they needed soldiers willing to distract the Titans and protect Eren. He added that no soldier was being forced on this mission, nor would they be condemned for refusing. 

Leah’s eyes brightened. “Clay. Tsuki. We could go back to Trost. We can find Kana.” 

Clay smirked. “You read my mind.” 

Tsuki clenched her hands into fists. “Then what are we waiting for?” 

Eren, Pixis, Erwin, and Levi stood before the wall. All of the soldiers were walking away. No one wanted to embark on what sounded like a suicidal mission. The only ones who wanted to go were them and Mikasa and Armin. 

Pixis frowned. “This isn’t nearly enough.” 

“You’ll also have Squad Levi’s help.” Erwin informed him. “But you’re right. It’s doubtful that – “ 

“Commander!” Tsuki spoke up suddenly. “I promise you… we’re all you’ll need.” 

Erwin watched her closely. “And what makes you so sure?” 

“As long as you give us the supplies, I promise you we can destroy all of those Titans. We don’t need help.” Clay backed up. 

“I’ll go too.” 

Tsuki turned and saw Jean along with Reiner, Annie and Burtholt. Jean’s hands were clenched into fists. “I couldn’t decide, but I thought, what the hell. We have to give it a shot.” 

Pixis looked at Erwin. “We have no choice but to try.” 

All of them saluted their superiors in unison. 

Levi’s eyes narrowed as he looked out at them. These are your friends Kana… I can see in their eyes the real reason they want to do this. They want you to come home. He looked back at the wall. If you are in there… I swear… we’re bringing you back. 

Tsuki smirked when Eren hopped down to their level. “Hey, Eren. You better not screw this up. Got it?” 

He chuckled but then narrowed his eyes with seriousness. “I’ll do my best. I swear.” 

For several hours they stood around, making plans of how they were going to accomplish this task. At the end of their planning session, Leah walked up to Commander Erwin. “Commander?” 

“Yes, Leah?” Erwin asked. 

“After the plan succeeds. I request permission to search for Kana. Please. We’ll have to clear the area of Titans anyway.” 

Erwin sighed. “Permission granted. But don’t get your hopes up. That many Titans, even with maneuver gear is a challenge to come back from. But alone and without mobility?” 

“I don’t care. I know she’s not dead.” Leah told him. 

“Alright.”


	18. Trinity+1

The two squads stood atop the wall, looking down at the boulder. Tsuki nudged Eren. “It looks easy. If you can’t do it, I will.” 

“Haha!” Eren glared at her. 

“Alright Eren.” Erwin told him. “It’s time; now or never.” He told him, then looked at the others. “I want Squad Levi to stay back and back up the other squad if necessary. If we get too many people down there at once, we’ll lure them all to us.” 

“We’re the Trinity+1 Squad!” Leah sang, her swords out. “And you remember it… because we’re going to be the ones that eliminate all the Titans!” 

Just like that, all of them jumped off the wall after Eren. 

Levi looked at Erwin and asked, “Why didn’t you position them as our back up? We don’t know how good they are. There’s a chance you’re just sending them to their – “ 

“They were cocky enough to tell us they could handle it on their own. I want to see if they have the skill set to back up their mouths.” Erwin informed. “I have no intention of letting them die.” 

“Sir.” 

Leah, Tsuki, and Clay flew around where Eren formed his Titan while Armin and Mikasa landed on the roof. They had discussed it already, that they would stick close to Eren and protect him while the other three would fan out and prevent any others from getting closer than that. 

Leah spun herself up in the air just as a Titan rounded the corner. She flipped and came back down, slicing down its neck and swinging on around to another one just as Tsuki finished it off. 

Erwin’s eyebrows raised. “Well well.” 

Clay raced across the rooftops, passing three Titans and in one swift spin, slashed all of their necks wide open. He laughed as all the Titans collapsed one by one. “Come on guys, keep up!” 

Tsuki swung around behind him and shouted, “You’re just showing off for Mikasa aren’t you!?” 

He turned and shouted at her, “What the hell!? Why would you think that!?” 

Leah showed up on his other side, laughing, “Oh come on.” She jumped off the head of a Titan, cut it open and kept flying, “We all know you like her.” 

Clay looked back. “Speaking of… why hasn’t Eren picked up that boulder yet?” 

Levi’s eyes widened. “It looks like the issue isn’t going to be whether or not they need back up.” 

Petra narrowed her eyes. “Eren can’t control his Titan.” 

 

Eren, in Titan form, turned away from the boulder and glared at Mikasa. He let out a huge roar and then threw his fist right at her. She moved, grabbing Armin and barely avoided the hit. She set Armin back down on the roof and jumped up to his face. “Eren! It’s me! Mikasa! Don’t you recognize me!?” 

Armin gasped, “Mikasa, look out!” 

Mikasa looked over, seeing Eren’s fist flying right at her. She jumped off his face as he punched himself and fell back down against the boulder. She landed back on the roof and cursed, “He can’t impose his will through that Titan at all…” 

Armin rushed to the edge of the roof and ordered, “Help the Trinity Squad. I’ll try to snap him out of it.” 

“But, Armin…!” Mikasa protested. 

“Just go! Help them!” Armin begged. 

 

Tsukiko cursed as she swung around, just barely missing another Titan. “There’s so damn many!” 

“We told the Commander that we could handle it! So we’ve got to keep our word!” Leah told her. 

“I know. And we will!” Tsuki flew in the air, gasping when a Titan she hadn’t see grabbed her wire. It yanked her back down, but Leah grabbed her and threw her back at the Titan as she rebounded off the roof. Tsuki flew right by its neck and cut it wide open. “Thanks, Leah!” 

Leah cursed and held her hip where she cut it on the roof. “I didn’t land right.” 

Erwin looked at Levi. “The rest of you. Go ahead and join them. Don’t do anything dangerous. We don’t want to lose any lives.” 

They all saluted and took off. 

Leah looked up as a Titan swung its hand down at her. She tried to run out of reach, but her balance was still off from her injury. As it nearly got to her, Clay and Mikasa came from opposite directions and cut off either of its arms. Leah dropped down as the arm flew over her head. Together, the two of them finished it off and it fell limp to the ground. 

Leah sat up. “Thanks guys.” She looked at Mikasa. “What’s going on with Eren?” 

Mikasa shook her head. “He can’t control this Titan. Armin is trying to get through to him but I don’t know what good it’ll do.” 

Tsuki was flying through the streets, taking out Titans one by one. She paused on a stack of crates, seeing one Titan at the end of the road. She stared at it and remember what happened to her as a child. The scene that had unfolded before her when her entire village was destroyed except for her. 

This Titan was running. She went to jump off the crates, but one buckled underneath her and her gear misfired, getting caught between panels on the next rooftop. She fired another shot to take her on past, but when she hit the end of the line, it latched and she was suddenly stuck. “Shit.” She couldn’t reel in either of her wires and she was just hung there between the buildings, a meal waiting for the Titan. 

Her eyes widened in horror and a scream ripped from her throat. 

Clay and Mikasa turned around. Clay cursed. “TSUKI!” 

Levi and Petra both turned around from the Titans they were honed in on. Levi’s eyes widened. “We won’t get there in time!” 

Reiner and Jean were flying full speed to where she was hanging. 

The Titan wrapped its hand around Tsuki’s slender body and pulled her to its mouth. But it suddenly sniffed. Tsuki gasped when the great Titan suddenly dropped her in midair. Just like before. The Titans didn’t want her. As she plummeted to the ground, she closed her eyes. 

Why didn’t they want her? Was there something wrong with her? Was she lucky? It didn’t feel like luck… 

Tsukiko gasped when she was caught, just as Reiner slid between the Titan’s legs. Jean flew by, cutting its neck out and following Reiner to the next rooftop. He set her down and asked, “Are you okay?” 

Hesitantly, Tsukiko nodded her head. “D-did you see that? It… didn’t want to eat me…” 

“You were really lucky and happened to get an Aberrant.” Jean stated. “Thank goodness. You’re rattled; get back to the wall and take a break. You’ve been going at it almost nonstop.” 

Tsuki brushed her hair behind her ear. “D-do you really think it was just an aberrant?” 

Reiner questioned, “What else would it be?” 

“Nothing… nevermind…” Tsuki whispered, feeling her nerves knot up. 

Clay let out a huge breath as he and Mikasa took out a few more Titans. “That was way too close for comfort.” 

Mikasa looked towards where Eren’s Titan was at. “She’s safe. But have to figure out what we’re going to do.” 

Clay looked up at the wall. “The Commander hasn’t given us a cue to retreat. I think he still believes we’ll pull through.” 

“I hope so.” Mikasa stated. 

A loud rumbling caught every ones attention.


	19. Success

Everyone looked up to see Eren standing, the boulder over his head. 

Leah had been running along the wall, jumping down occasionally to kill a Titan when she saw him as well. She stood in an intersection, staring with awe. “Is this… really happening?” 

Armin landed beside her. “Eren’s going to do it! As long as we protect him till he gets to the hole, we’ll win!” 

Levi narrowed his eyes and raised his blade and shouted, “Protect him! All of you, move in on the Titan’s charging Eren!” 

Everyone turned course and shot towards the Titans on the ground, going for Erens legs. 

The rumbling suddenly grew louder and Leah turned around. A huge Titan was about to wrap its hands around Armin from behind. She let out a scream and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. “You can’t have him!” She started to fire her gear to reel herself out of its range, but its hand came around her too fast. 

Clay turned, hearing Leah’s scream. “Leah!!!” 

Mikasa gasped, “Armin!!” 

Tsuki struggled in Jean’s grip. “Let me go! Leah! No! You can’t die!” 

Levi turned and flew towards Leah. He was too slow to save Tsuki but she got lucky. He wouldn’t be too late this time. He wouldn’t let anyone else die today. 

The Titan opened its mouth to take a bite out of Leah and Armin. Leah struggled to loosen the grip of the Titan enough that Armin could slip out. Finally it did and he dropped to the ground. Armin’s eyes widened and he screamed, “LEAH NO!!!” 

Leah relaxed. At least she’d saved him. She saw Levi, he would save Armin. She would gladly give her life for that. She turned, facing the mouth of the Titan and accepted her death. 

The sound of shattering glass broke her from her stupor. She looked to her left. Someone had leapt out of the building through the window. They had two blades in their hands and, flipping in the air, cut the Titan’s hand clean off. They kept flying, bouncing off the wall of the opposite building and back up at the Titan’s head. They grabbed a hold of its hair and cut out the back of its neck. Together, all of them fell to the ground. 

Leah stared in shock as the person stood up straight. They were absolutely covered in blood but only had a few wounds on their torso and arms. Her tank top was in pieces over her body as well as her jeans. She was missing a shoe and had very little left of her gloves. Leah nearly cried out of happiness. “K-Kana…” 

Two Titans were on either side of them, both of them reached for Kana at the same time. She jumped up, bouncing off the palm of the first Titan and onto the arm of the other. She ran up to its shoulder and cut out its neck and jumped onto the roof top right next to it. The other Titan was already swinging its fist at her. She raised her blades, ready to time the chance to jump over its fist, but before it got close enough, a blur spun by, ripping out its neck. 

For just one brief moment, Kana met Levi’s gaze. 

There was no time to waste. She looked back at Eren. He still had a ways to go but a lot of Titans in his path. She jumped off the roof and ran along the ground, following Armin and Leah who were already running towards the other Titans. Clay and Mikasa were doing a good job of slicing up the Titans without any problem. 

Armin and Leah switched to maneuver gear and Kana busied herself cutting the Titan’s off at the ankles. She smiled as she heard them collapsing behind her as her friends finished them off. She found an onning she could jump on to get a good angle at another Titan. She jumped up to it and then leapt off of it, going to slice another Titan when she was blindsided by someone else. 

“What do you think you’re doing!? Stay away from them without your gear!” Levi ordered harshly. 

Kana looked back to see a Titan had dropped down right where she would have landed. Another one was turning around to strike at them but Levi was too busy scolding her to notice. She threw her broken blades at it, stabbing it in the eyes and sending it into the ground. Clay swung by and finished it off. 

Levi looked over his shoulder and at Eren. Kana, too, watched as he put the boulder in the hole. Both of them let out a huge sigh of relief. 

Tsuki started jumping up and down on the roof. “We did it! We won! We won! We won!” 

Erwin smiled and sent off a signal to inform everyone within the wall that they had succeeded. 

Clay and Mikasa landed behind Eren. As soon as the boulder landed, Mikasa threw her arms around Clay. “We did it. I’m so… relieved…” 

Clay blushed just ever so slightly and hugged her back. “Yes we did. We… for the first time… defied the Titans.” Clay looked up at the wall, his eyes glimmered with something besides happiness. With something… more like knowing. A kind of dread that no one else could possibly understand. 

 

Leah was jumping as well but turned and grabbed Armin’s hands and squeezed. “Eren did it! He plugged up the hole! We pushed the Titans back.” 

Armin smiled at her and then blushed. “Hey… Leah… I just… Thank you.” 

“Huh?” Leah questioned. 

“You… were willing to give your life for me…” Armin squeezed her hand. “Thank you… but please don’t ever do that again… I couldn’t stand it… if you died…” He looked down, blushing darkly. 

Leah blushed as well and wrapped Armin in another hug. “I’m sorry. But I couldn’t stand if you died, either.” They both decided to escape to the roofs before any Titans decided to have them for dinner. 

 

Levi landed on a roof top further away from the Titans and set Kana down. For the longest time, he just stared at her, hands on her shoulders. Unlike any other time she had seen him before, his eyes weren’t empty. They weren’t without emotion. This time, it was the opposite. They were so full of emotion that she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. He suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her head against his chest. “Dammit, Kana…” 

“Levi…?” Kana asked against his shirt. 

He pressed his face into her hair and whispered, “The kids were so upset when they thought they lost you…” 

She started to question how they knew anything about what had happened to her when something far more intriguing caught her attention. She remembered when Camden acted the same way, pretending that it wasn’t him feeling the way he was. She pulled away just enough that she could look up at him. The second their gazes met, he turned away. Kana gripped the back of his shirt, “Thank you… Levi…” 

“For what?” He asked, looking back at her with surprise. 

“For caring…” Kana whispered. “I know you say you don’t, but I – “ 

“I do. Much more than I should.” 

Her eyes widened as he turned around and picked her up. “Come on, we need to get back within the walls and file a report.” 

Kana blushed and wrapped her arms around his neck and tried not to squirm. He switched to his gear and took them both back to the wall. As they flew through the air, it felt like time moved more slowly than it should have. All she could think about what had happened. The fact that she was still alive after all that happened was amazing in itself. Even she didn’t believe it. She looked at her hand. The red lines that had appeared were gone now. 

Kana’s eyes widened when she heard a loud noise. She looked down, seeing a Titan jump up at them from below. “Hold on.” Levi ordered coolly. He let go of her and drew his blades. Within just one instant they were in a spin and Levi moved down the Titan’s body and then back up, slicing out its neck. Kana’s eyes widened. It was impressive; being able to kill a Titan all the while not even dropping her. 

He landed back on the wall next to Erwin and set her down. Erwin looked at them with curiosity and asked, “So you survived? And without maneuver gear? How?” 

Kana rubbed the back of her head. “I guess I just got lucky.” 

“Well… Luck is just what we could use on our team.” Erwin informed. “Good job.”


	20. Regrouping

“We’ve got all our extra men out there helping to gather up bodies. The trainees are out there as well.” Erwin explained to Pixis. “We’ve cleared out all the Titans. Eren is in custody and the wounded are being treated.”

“Good.” Pixis informed. “This is a grand day indeed. If only so many needn’t have died for it to happen.”

Erwin pressed his hand to his chest. “If we hadn’t have gone on an expedition this morning… we could have saved so many lives.”

Pixis shook his head. “You know you’re not to blame. We all made our choices. It was just an unfortunate occurrence.”

Erwin dipped his head. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need from me.”

“What is to be done about Eren Jaeger?” Pixis questioned.

“That will be decided by a military tribunal. All military branches want custody of him. There is only one man who can decide who gets him.” Erwin informed.

“Yes…”

 

Kana yawned as she walked down the street. She stopped when her three friends stood before her. The smile that spread on her lips couldn’t be helped. She asked, “Are you guys going to beat me up again?”

“Hey hey hey. That was Tsuki. We had nothing to do with it.” Clay told her.

Leah threw her arms around her. “I thought you were dead! I was so sad!”

Kana rested a hand on Leah’s head and apologized for the hundredth time.

 

**“I can’t believe you!”**

**Kana turned around just as Tsuki flew at her and punched her right in the face. All of the other soldiers on the wall stepped back to give them room. Tsuki landed on her and grabbed her collar, but she saw that her friend was crying. “You had us worried sick! Why didn’t you wait!? You took off somewhere instead of joining us in the supply room! Why?!”**

**Kana smiled. “Sorry. I was trying to lure some of them away. That Titan was getting overwhelmed. I was just trying to help.”**

**Tsuki started to cry harder. “Well… That was stupid. We don’t wanna lose our friend. Don’t be stupid anymore, okay stupid?”**

**Kana sat up and hugged her friend. “I’m sorry. I won’t be stupid anymore.”**

**“So where are you off to?” Clay asked. “We’ve all kinda gotten the day off since they’re trying to regroup the forces and decide what to do.”**

**“Uh. Oh. I was asked to go see the Commander and the Captain.” Kana explained. “Tell you what though, why don’t we meet up tonight for dinner or something?”**

**“Sure!” Leah sang. “You pay, right?”**

**“Good joke. What money?” Kana waved to them as she walked off. She felt weird. Under her black long sleeve shirt and red jacket, bandages were wrapped around her body, all over. She had fought for her life for almost 24 hours, alone, in Titan territory. She felt twitchy and shaky, like every second a Titan would be behind her.**

**Every second was a fight for life now.**

 

Commander Erwin was looking out the window, at Wall Sina. Levi was on the other side of the desk, watching his back. Finally, Erwin asked, “Levi. I have never once doubted you, nor have you ever questioned me.”

“Sir?” Levi asked.

“But you’ve grown attached to that girl, haven’t you?” Erwin asked, looking at him over his shoulder.

Levi gritted his teeth and looked away. He couldn’t lie to his commander. “Yes.”

“I could tell.” Erwin informed. “Will it hinder your ability to follow orders?”

“Of course not.” Levi answered quickly, sure of himself.

“What if my order was to send her squad as bait and leave them to fend for themselves and that you were to continue on your mission, whether or not they lived?” Erwin asked.

Levi’s eyes were wide. He couldn’t tell if it was a threat, a warning, or simply a question. Either way, for the first time, ever, Levi wasn’t sure of his answer. In a situation like that… what would he really do? “I…”

“You don’t have to answer that question. The possibility is there.” Erwin informed. “There have been many times that we’ve allowed some of our soldiers to be sacrifices in order to succeed. She could end up one of them. If it were necessary, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it. Regardless of your attachments.”

Levi’s hands clenched into fists. “I understand.”

There was a knock on the door. Erwin turned and called, “Come in.”

“It’s Kana.” Kana stated, opening the door and saluting her superiors. “You told me yesterday that you wanted to see me?”

“Yes. You were informed of the situation, correct?” Erwin asked. When Kana nodded, he continued, “What’s your opinion on Eren Jaeger. We’d like to use his abilities to take back Wall Maria. But can we trust him?”

Kana thought back to everything she remembered about Eren while they were training. All the times he sparked everyone to want to fight the Titans. To take things seriously. To win. Kana’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. As long as I’ve known him, all Eren has talked about is killing all the Titans. That’s all he wanted to do.”

Erwin nodded. “Good. We’re going to visit him. I would like for you to come along.”

Kana blinked. “Alright…”

 

Eren finally woke up after some time. Kana was leaning on the wall beside Levi and Erwin was sitting in a chair. As soon as Eren was conscious, he asked, “Wh-where am I?” He paused and looked at Kana. “Ah! Kana, you’re alive? Good. Your squad was worried about you.”

Kana blushed and looked away.

Erwin reverted his attention back. He said, “Let’s just say you’re in a dungeon, as you can see. You’re currently in the custody of the Military Police Brigade. We were finally granted the right to see you a few minutes ago.”

“What’s gonna happen now? And where are the other trainees?” Eren asked.

“We’re talking to all of them one by one.” Erwin explained. “What we’re going to do from here on out isn’t much different from what we have been doing.” He held up the key that Eren usually wore around his neck.

“That key…!”

“Yes. It’s yours. I’ll give it back to you later. The basement of the house where you were born, Dr. Jaegers house in Shinganshina district… holds the secret of the Titans. Am I right?”

“Yes.” Eren agreed. “Or at least… that’s what my father said.”

“You have amnesia and your father is missing.” Levi repeated. “That’s a pretty convenient story.”

Erwin looked at Levi. “Levi, we’ve already reached the conclusion he has no reason to lie.” He looked back at Eren. “There’s still so much we don’t understand. But I think right now… we need to ask you about your intentions.” When Eren questioned him, he answered with, “In order to get to the basement, we’d have to take back Wall Maria. But it would take drastic measure to plug the hole in the wall that quickly. For that, we’d need your Titan strength. Our fate, it seems, relies on a Titan. Perhaps the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan are the same type as you. Your will is the key, the key to freeing the human race from its despair.”

“I… I…” Eren mumbled. “I…”

Levi glared at him. “Answer the man, scum. What is it you want to do?”

Eren’s hands clenched and he looked up. “I just…want to enter the Survey Corps and kill all the Titans.”

Levi walked up to the cell. “Hn. Not bad. I’ll take responsibility for him. Send that message to the mucky-mucks. It’s not like I trust him. If he betrays me or goes out of control, I’ll put him down immediately. Upstairs shouldn’t have a problem with that. Because no one but me is suited for the Job.” To Eren, he said, “Alright, I’ll accept you into the Survey Corps.”


	21. MIzuki

Kana looked up as Levi finally walked out of HQ. She hesitated, not wanting to seem impatient. 

He told her, “I’m finally done. We can go.” 

Kana nodded. There were so many things she wanted to ask or to say, but she felt like now wasn’t the time or place for any of it. “You know, you don’t have to come with me anymore. Now that I’m no longer a trainee, I can come and go as I please.” 

Levi didn’t say anything back. He didn’t say anything until he’d opened the door to her home and the kids ran out and tackled her to the ground. Even Camden was crying, “I told them you weren’t dead! Why’d you pretend to be dead, sissy!?” 

“I’m sorry, Camden, I won’t do it again.” Kana explained. 

He sat up off of her. “They were going to take us away but Levi wouldn’t let them!” 

Kana looked at Levi as she got up. “Sounds like I owe you again. Thanks, Levi.” 

The evening seemed to go by quickly. Like always, the kids complained about her cooking, so this time, Levi made them something so they’d shut up. She put them to sleep early and collapsed on her bed once she was finished taking care of them. “I didn’t realize how exhausted I was. I didn’t sleep well last night.” 

“Hopefully you’ll sleep better now that you have less things to worry about.” Levi commented. “But you’ll have to be up early to stand witness to Eren’s trial.” 

Kana groaned. “I know. It sucks.” She sat up. He was even more quiet than usual and she wanted to find a way to cheer him up, but she didn’t know what she could do. “Could you teach me to cook some time?” 

Levi arched a brow. “What?” 

“So the kids aren’t always bitching at me.” Kana explained. “Would you teach me?” 

“I guess.” Levi explained, looking away. 

“Well, you don’t have to.” Kana informed. “You really don’t, I was just asking.” 

Levi grumbled. “I don’t see the point in showing you how to cook… If I just cook for them myself.” 

“You plan on cooking for them every day?” Kana questioned. 

“I don’t mind.” 

She blushed and got to her feet, walking up to him. She gripped his shirt and leaned into him. “Thank you.” 

Hesitantly, his arms wrapped around her. “It’s not like you have to thank me all the time.” 

“I feel safe when you’re around.” Kana whispered against his jacket. “So that’s why I thank you.” 

Levi smiled softly. “It’s nothing.” 

 

Leah sat on a small rock wall with Armin. She asked him, “Are you concerned about what they’ll do with Eren?” 

Armin nodded. “Everyone is making such a big deal about him being a Titan. However… they don’t realize the massive amount of good he can do. He’s our first chance to strike back! He can help us fight against the Titans!” 

“Kana says the Survey Corps is fighting to earn custody of them.” Leah assured him. “If they do, then they’ll keep him alive and use him against the Titans.” 

Armin nodded his head. “I’ve decided. I want to join the Survey Corps, as well.” 

Leah’s eyes widened. “Why!?” 

Armin looked down, a soft smile that looked almost sad spread on his face. “Because… I want to make a difference as well. Eren and all of you are doing so much. I want to fight as well.” 

Leah gripped his hand. “Then…I will stay by your side! I will protect you!” Her grip tightened on his hand. “No matter what.” 

“Leah…” He nodded. “Okay. I will, too! I’ll protect you as well!” 

Leah blushed and laughed a bit. “You don’t need to. I can do it on my own.” 

 

Kana was walking along side her friends. Tsuki teased, “So. We get to officially be Survey Corps as of today! But I’m so jealous, you’re already getting to do all of this fun stuff without us!” 

Kana frowned. “I wouldn’t call it fun. I’m not really sure what to expect of this. But whatever you say.” 

Clay shrugged. “We just go in there, stand around and look pretty for a while and then leave, then go to our ceremony and become official members of the Survey Corps!!!” 

All of them started cheering. As they got to the door for the Military Court, Tsuki grabbed her sleeve and said, “Hey Kana… When we get out of here… can I talk to you about something?” 

Kana nodded. “Sure. Is something wrong?” 

“Uh… no not really.” Tsuki mumbled. They walked in and took their positions in the stands. Closer to the front, in the witness stands, they saw Armin and Mikasa standing. Both of them looked back at them. Clay and Leah both waved back, blushes on their cheeks. 

Kana looked at her friends and gave them a devious grin. “Hmmm… there something going on between all you guys?” 

Leah and Clay blushed and shouted, “No!” 

After some time, a man went to the big chair in the front and sat down. “Alright, let’s begin. You are Eren Jaeger, yes?” Everyone looked at Eren who replied with ‘yessir’ and the man continued, “Regular law cannot apply in these exceptional circumstances. Therefore, this will be a military tribunal. Ultimate authority has been entrusted to me. Even over your life. Now I will ask you only once: Do you have any objections?” 

Slowly, Eren admitted, “No…sir…” 

“I’m glad that you understand. Now this unprecedented case has given rise to many conflicting, passionate arguments behind these walls. There are those who call you a demon that will lead us to destruction. And others consider you a savior who will bring hope to the human race. As expected, it proved impossible to hide your existence from the general public. When we are forced to eventually make an official announcement about you, it will inevitably produce a new threat in addition to the Titans. We’re here to decide which branch of the military will be responsible for your activities. The decision will determine how you are dealt with. The Military Police Brigade… or the Survey Corps. We’ll here from the Military Police Brigade first.” 

Kana zoned out when she heard the rambling of the of the Brigade. Nothing they said mattered to her. She had an idea of what they wanted. They wanted control over Eren so they could kill him. Even when Erwin spoke about what their plans were, she still didn’t focus. None of this really applied to her. What she did was the same no matter what the outcome of this was. 

It wasn’t until they had addressed Mikasa that she even listened. Mikasa said, “Yes… Eren originally tried to attack me. But on two separate occasions before that, Eren saved my life in his Titan form. The first time, a Titan was about to eat me. He stood against it and protect me. The second time, he saved Armin, Clay, and I from an explosive HE shell. I believe these facts should be considered as well.” 

“I wonder.” The Brigade officer stated, “Everything you just said is in the report, but wishful thinking has severely clouded your views, reducing their objective value, in my opinion. I know why you are taking Eren’s side. While investigating Eren’s background, I ran across an incident six years ago. Astonishingly, when these two were just nine years old, they stabbed three adult robbers to death. Their actions were understandable; legitimate self-defense. Yet it raises doubts about Eren’s legitimate humanity. Should we entrust him with the lives, the resources, the very fate of the human race?” 

Now everyone started mumbling about how they were both inhuman to begin with and that they should dissect Mikasa as well as Eren. This caused Eren to start shouting at them, “No! I may be a monster, but Mikasa has nothing to do with it! She’s not involved. And what’s more, every ones just saying whatever speculation happens to be convenient for them! But once you’ve cut yourselves off from reality, it’s all pointless. In the first place… you people have never encountered a Titan so what are you so afraid of!? What can we do when the people who have the power to fight, don’t!? If you’re afraid of fighting for your own lives, then help me! Just shut your mouths and invest everything in me!!!!” 

Kana’s eyes widened when the Brigade started raising their weapons in Eren’s direction. 

But before they could do anything, out of nowhere, Levi was right there, slamming a kick right into Eren’s face. Everyone gasped in shock as they watched Levi start beating the shit out of Eren. 

After a while, he paused and said, “This is just my opinion, but I’ve always found pain the most effective punishment. The lesson you need to learn right now. Can’t be taught with words…only with action. And you’re kneeling, which makes you easy to kick.” 

The Brigade officer, after a while, finally mumbled, “Levi… wait. That’s dangerous…” Levi glared at him while he finished, “What if he gets mad and turns into a Titan?” 

Levi picked Eren up by his hair and asked, “What? Weren’t you the ones that wanted to dissect him?” 

“He’s not scary… for a Titan.” 

Everyone in the room looked over, seeing a girl standing just a few feet away from them. She was barely three feet tall, black hair, black eyes and was holding a raggy stuffed teddy bear. 

Eren was spitting out blood while Levi questioned, “What the hell…? Is this little girl doing here?” 

The little girl pointed at Eren. “If he’s a Titan. Just kill him.” 

Eren’s eyes widened. “What is with this girl?” 

The man at the head of the court stood up. “Whose child is this!? Get her out of this court room! Now!” 

The girl poked at Eren. “You’re a weird Titan. But you’re not dangerous.” She glared up at Levi and commented. “You guys obviously aren’t very concerned about him transforming. I would have gagged him. If he bites through his tongue, you’d all die.” 

Everyone in the stands started gasping with questions. 

Levi asked her, “What does a little girl know about Titans?” 

“Obviously more than you.” 

Kana’s eyes were wide with shock. She couldn’t pin it. But this girl was familiar to her. She had seen her somewhere before. A name kept rolling off her tongue. But why? She didn’t recognize her. 

Levi kneeled down. “You talk pretty harshly for such a kid…” 

“Would you like me to kill the Titan then? It’s my job. I kill Titans.” The girl informed matter of factly. 

Kana’s eyes widened. In her mind, she suddenly wasn’t in the courtroom anymore. She was ten years younger and laying in a pile of burning rubble. Fire was dancing all around her and a monster was rising up from the ashes. But it wasn’t a Titan. It was something even more ferocious. Something… worse. 

She felt a hand on her arm. She whirled around to a frantic Tsuki. She asked, “Kana… who is that? Why do I know who that is but I don’t know her?” 

Kana felt her whole body trembling. Tsuki was in the same position as her. But what did that mean? Who was that little girl? 

“Your job is to kill Titans?” Levi asked her. “Aren’t you a little small?” 

“Aren’t you a little small?” She retorted. 

Suddenly, the priest that was with the Brigade, shouted, “Demon child! Kill it! Kill it now! What sort of child speaks like that?!” 

“Is it a Titan as well!?” Another panicked voice shouted. 

“They’re everywhere now!” 

The girl puffed her cheeks. “I most certainly am not a Titan! I kill Titans!” She set her teddy bear down and walked back to Eren. “Here, I’ll show you – “ She reached her hand out, about to touch Eren when Kana’s eyes widened. 

Before she could stop herself, Kana shouted, “Mizuki, stop!” 

Mizuki’s hand froze and she looked over in the stands and directly at Kana. She smiled and asked, “Yay! Can I kill it!? Please! I haven’t played in so long!” 

The head of the court, Darius Zackly, stood to his feet and looked at Kana. “Is this your child?” 

“What? No. I…” 

“Then how did you know her name?” 

Mizuki raised her hand. “I know the answer to that one! I told it to her when she saved me from Wall Rose. I ran away and then came here. But… I don’t know her. She’s kind of weird.” 

Zackly huffed. “Will you please get rid of the girl? We’re trying to have a court here.” 

“Yessir.” Kana stepped out of the stands and picked up Mizuki. 

“What? What are you doing? Are you not going to kill it? Are you scared? I’ll kill it!” Mizuki shouted at Kana, struggling in her grip. 

Kana sent an apologetic glance in Levi’s direction, but he didn’t seem mad. She kept to herself and walked out of the court room, the resilient Mizuki still in her grasp.


	22. Midnight Run

Kana waited outside of the court on the steps. She knew that Erwin and Levi would want answers, but more than that, she wanted to know how the rest of the session went. Mizuki kept asking her bothersome questions the whole time. Questions like why she didn’t kill that Titan, or why a Titan was living among humans. 

Alas, Levi walked out of the doors and over to her. 

Kana stood to her feet. “Levi. How did it go?” 

Levi glanced at Mizuki and then back at her. “Eren is under my direct supervision. We’re taking him on a short expedition outside the walls to test his control over the Titan.” He paused and then said, “Commander Erwin says you are to join us.” 

Kana jumped a bit in surprise. “I am? Why?” 

“I don’t know. I just follow orders. I don’t question them.” Now Levi was staring at Mizuki who just glared back. To Kana, he asked, “Now…about this child.” 

“I don’t know. I ran into her when I came to the interior. I’m as curious about her as you are. But I have no answers.” Kana explained and then looked down. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine. Will you be keeping track of her?” Levi asked. “She seems like a strange character. However…she knew about the ability of Eren to inflict self-injury and transform. That information hasn’t been made public. I would like to know how she knows about it.” 

Mizuki glared at him. “First of all, I know because it’s my job to know. I kill Titans. Secondly, Kana has to keep track of me because I go wherever she goes. So I’m going on that expedition with you.” 

Levi glared back. “There’s no children on an expedition outside the walls.” 

“I am not a child!” Mizuki screamed in his face. 

Kana picked the kid up and grumbled. “Would you knock it off!?” To Levi she said, “I’ll take her home. Sorry.” 

Levi watched Kana walk off and turned his head as Erwin came up behind him and asked, “What do you think of that little girl? She’s more than just suspicious. She’s right. And she knows. She’s more comprehending than just a child.” 

Levi crossed his arms. “I don’t know what to think. I guess we’ll wait and see.” 

 

Kana set down two cups of hot tea and then sat at the table across from her best friend. Tsukiko laughed humorlessly, “Every time I see you, you’ve got more kids on your tail.” 

Kana followed Tsuki’s gaze, looking over at the new small, black-haired girl. She was playing with the other kids nicely, but something just didn’t set well with her. Sighing, Kana set her tea down and stated, “It’s not like I try. I guess I’m just kid friendly.” When she looked over her friend, there something… sad about her composure. Kana asked softly, “So… what did you need to talk about?” 

Tsuki’s hands clenched and then unwound. For the first time since she’d met her, Tsuki looked defeated. Like she had given something up. “Titans won’t kill me.” 

“Huh?” Kana asked more bluntly than she’d intended. “What do you mean?” 

Tsuki’s voice was hoarse. “When I first saw the Titans… I saw them eat people right before my eyes. I fell… and I passed out. When I woke up. Everyone around me had been eaten, but I was unscathed.” She looked back up at her friend. “I walked all the way across Wall Maria! I encountered numerous Titans but all of them…! They all… just… sniffed me… and moved on…” Tsuki’s eyes began to water. “They don’t want to eat me! What the hell does that mean!?” 

“Are you sure?” Kana questioned. “You’re sure that they just… refused to eat you?” 

“They looked right at me!” Tsuki shouted. “They looked me in the eye, picked me up, and then put me back down! It happened again during the Battle for Trost. I don’t know why it bothers me so much… does it mean that I’m… weird?” 

“Why would a Titan refuse to eat anyone in particular?” Kana asked. 

Tsuki hesitated and whispered, “Want me to prove it?” 

Kana’s eyes widened. 

 

“We’re going to get in so much trouble for this…” Tsukiko whispered, buckling up her waist belt. 

“Why? We’re not hurting anyone. And this is our equipment.” Kana stated. “Besides, if we die, it’s not on anyone’s shoulders but ours.” 

“We’re fucking suicidal, Kana.” Tsuki told her, a laugh in her voice. 

“Correction: You’re the one feeding yourself to a Titan. I’m just going along with your stupid plan in case I’m right and Titan’s don’t hate you.” Kana explained. “You’re the suicidal one, not me.” 

Tsuki playfully let out a cry and threw her arms around Kana. “I’m entrusting my life to you!” She laughed as Kana pushed her off and she straightened up. “Alright. Now all we have to do is get out of HQ and over the wall. Hopefully no one sees us.” 

Kana opened the door out of the equipment room and said, “Even if they did, why waste time chasing a couple brats who wanna get themselves killed?” 

“What are you two doing?” 

Tsuki and Kana dead stopped, facing to Brigade officers. They demanded, “Why are you equipped? No one has permission to have the gear on right now.” 

“Then why are you here?” Kana asked. “From the looks of it, you’re sneaking around as well.” 

“None of your business brats!” The other yelled. “Take off the gear and put your hands up. We’ll take you to Zackly to be judged innocent or guilty.” 

“As if.” Kana growled. To Tsuki she yelled, “Kick ‘em where it counts!” At the same time, they both killed the officers right up between the legs and ran for it. They switched to their gear and soared across town. 

Tsuki asked Kana, “What if they abandon your family because of this?” 

Kana’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t see that happening… I’m confident in the promise made to me.” 

Before they knew it, they were both scaling up the 50 meter tall wall. As they swung over it, a couple more soldiers shouted at them. With a wave and a smile, they both descending into the night into Titan territory. 

 

The door to Commander Erwin’s room flew open. “Sir!” 

Erwin sat up out of bed and glared furiously. “What is the meaning of this?” 

“We were told to alert all of the Commanding officers… Two memebers of the 104th Training Corps stole two sets of maneuver equipment and jumped the walls.” The officer stated, saluted. 

Erwin’s eyes widened. “What? Why? Who?” 

“No one has been able to give an accurate identification. We just have a couple guesses from the descriptions given to us.” 

Erwin pulled on his jacket and pushed by the officer. “Okay. Give me the description.” He marched down the hall and out of his home, stopping when he saw Squad Levi already equipped and ready. 

Petra raised her fist. “We’ll catch them and bring them back.” 

“Why?” Eldo asked. “If they want to commit suicide, why risk soldiers to bring them back?” 

“The first description…” The officer began. “A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. The second girl… uh… black hair and red eyes.” 

Levi’s eyes widened as Erwin gritted his teeth. “That’s why you’re going. You already know your orders, go!” 

Levi spun and raced towards the wall, his squad right behind him. He felt all of the swirl of emotion from before coming back to him again. Kana… what the hell…? Are you trying to get yourself killed?


	23. Settlement

Tsuki waved her hand around. “The coast is clear!” She was swinging her blade around, making as much noise as she could as she walked along the path. Kana rolled her eyes, trotting along from the tops of the houses. She wanted the Titans to see Tsuki before her. 

Tsuki puffed her cheeks. “There are no Titans around here at all. What the hell?” 

“You scared them off with your wild scream when you jumped off the wall.” Kana teased. 

“Oh, come on, tell me you were thrilled from that 50 meter free-fall!” 

“I didn’t scream ‘holy shit I’m gonna die’ at the top of my lungs.” 

Tsuki laughed out loud. “It was fun.” 

Kana rubbed the back of her head. “Fun? Yeah, I guess.” She crossed her arms. “Jeez. If our goal was to not run into any Titans, we’d be having excellent luck right now. We’ve had to have walked two whole fucking miles.” 

“Quit bitching.” Tsuki snapped playfully. “We all know that you’re the best endurance runner we’ve got.” 

“I was just used to running from the police.” Kana explained, looking around. She sighed and shouted as loud as she could. “WHERE ARE ALL THE FUCKING TITANS!?” 

Tsuki started laughing so hard she started crying. “Who knew even you had a limit to your patience?” 

“Hey I deal with kids every day so I – “ Kana stopped when she heard a noise. She started looking around. It sounded like a slow shuffling. Something, somewhere, was moving. 

Tsuki steadied herself as well, looking all around. “Where are you, you bastard…?” 

Kana shifted her feet as it suddenly grew louder. Then she gasped when the roof under her feet exploded and she dropped down. She caught herself on one food, one knee. “Hah…” Her wide eyes looked down between her ankle and knee. The eye of a Titan glared up at her. An instinctive scream ripped from her throat as she jumped up and used her gear to pull her to the next building just as the Titan tried to clamp its jaws around her. “Okay Tsuki! There’s a fucking Titan for you! Distract it!” 

 

Erwin looked up as he heard the scream echo through the valley. “I thought it’d been too quiet.” 

“There have been no Titans up to this point.” Gunther stated. “Sounds like they finally ran into one.” 

Levi gritted his teeth and sped up his horse in the direction of the scream. Erwin snapped, “Levi. Calm down. Stay in formation.” 

Reluctantly, Levi reined in his horse and fell back in stride with Erwin’s. 

 

“Hey Titan! Come look over here!” Tsuki squealed over and over, flailing her hands around. “I’m here and edible!” 

Kana was just swinging around in circles, but the stupid, baby-looking Titan was just following her. Kana screamed back at it, “Dammit! I’m not on the menu! Tsuki is! Eat her!” 

Tsuki glared in rage and jumped up on one of the buildings. When Kana passed her, she hooked herself onto the Titan’s face and shouted into its eye. “Pay attention to me you dumb little bastard!” 

The Titan let out a whiney noise and reached up, grabbing Tsuki. “Finally!” She yelled at it. 

Kana stopped swinging around and stared back at her friend. It was the first moment that she felt the rush of fear. What if she was right and Tsuki was wrong? Was she close enough to save her friend? Would she be too late? She started to rush back to her. 

“Stay back, Kana! Just watch!” Tsuki ordered. 

“Tsuki, it’s not stopping!” Kana yelled. 

The baby Titan opened its mouth, bringing Tsuki closer to its lips. 

“Tsuki!” 

“Don’t move!” 

“It’s not stopping!” 

“It hasn’t smelled me yet! Wait!” 

“I’m not gonna let you die!” 

“KANA!” 

“TSUKI!” 

Kana jumped into the air, her blades drawn. She raised them over her head to cut out its neck and when she went to slash downward, something unbelievable happened. The Titan’s nose twitched and recognition filled its gaze. It stopped moving in on Tsuki. Kana dropped her swords and fell face first into the Titan’s neck and flipped over, landing on the edge of the roof and rolling off onto the ground. She sat up quickly, eyes wide. 

The Titan gently set Tsuki back down. Even Tsuki was trembling with fear. “S-See…? I told you… I-it won’t… None of them will.” 

“You’re… like a repellent.” Kana whispered, in awe. “You could…Tsuki! Do you understand what this means!?” 

“H-huh?” Tsuki questioned. 

“This is perfect! You can enter Titan territory!” Kana yelled. “You can be our shield to fight back!” 

Tsuki’s eyes were wide with shock. “Y-you think this is a good thing?” 

“You don’t get eaten, how is this anything but good?” Kana stood up. “This is great!” She gasped when the Titan who’d been fixated on Tsuki suddenly turned back on her. She jumped out of the way and flipped in the air, bringing her blade down on its neck. “Now that we’ve settled this, let’s get back.” 

Tsuki started to jump off the roof when she heard a noise. Looking into the line of trees off the path, she saw several 4 meter class Titans all stepping out. “Hah… Kana…We need to move fast.” 

Kana jumped up, popping her shoulder and asked, “Why?” Before Tsuki could answer, she saw why. Kana’s blood ran cold as several of them started walking towards them. “Shit, let’s go!” She grabbed Tsuki’s arm and jumped off, rushing back towards their horses. 

A couple Titans who were much faster than the others, surrounded them on either side. Tsuki yanked Kana back just as they lunged, crushing the ground where they had been. “Shit!” Kana screamed, turning and both of them running towards some of the buildings. 

They paused in the shadow of one of the small houses. Tsuki whispered urgently, “They don’t eat me, let me be the bait. I’ll lure them all in and you can kill them off.” 

“Are you crazy?” Kana snapped. “One Titan didn’t eat you. I know you say that’s happened several times, but we don’t know the extent in which you’re safe. What if you’re not safe from Aberrants? What if one in there is one of them and eats you while you think you’re safe?” 

“Then you’ll save me.” Tsuki told her, no hesitation in her voice. 

Kana’s eyes widened. “T-Tsuki…” 

“I trust my life in your hands, Kana.” Tsuki explained. “If I do that… whether I live or die… I know it won’t be for nothing. As long as you decide what’s necessary, I know my life will have meaning.” Tsuki started to walk out but paused and smiled. “However… I would like to live this time.” She blushed and added. “There’s a couple boys I’ve been crushing on. I’d like to go on a date before I die.” 

Kana gave her thumbs up and a stupid grin. “Then let’s get back to the wall so you can.” 

Tsuki jumped out excitedly and whistled to all the Titans. “Here boys! Nice juicy meat over here!” This time, they went after her without any hesitation. Tsuki ran in a few circles, luring all of them in before jumping on the roof. The faster ones were trying to climb up after her, but kept clumsily falling back down. The slower ones were struggling to get up around them. Tsuki took a deep breath. “Okay, Kana.” 

Kana tightened her gloves, her blades already in her hands. She ran directly towards the building all the Titans were crowding. It’s a good thing she had gotten all that practice in the city without her gear because it was useless out here with no trees or tall buildings around. She jumped as high into the air as she could, landing on one of Titan’s backs, cutting out its neck. It fell and she jumped to the next one. A couple times, they spotted her first and swung around, but she maneuvered around them and landed a hit. 

While avoiding one arm, she missed the neck of another Titan and cursed, running across the ground and to the other side of it. It saw her and started following her instead of focusing on Tsuki. Luckily it was slow. 

Kana saw on the other side of it, Tsuki was desperately trying to get its attention back. Kana’s eyes were warm. She’s relying on me. She trusts me enough to put her life in my hands. Her hands tightened on her blades and her eyes narrowed. I won’t let her down. I won’t ever let any of my friends die. I will take them to victory… 

In one swift move, Kana lunged towards the Titan. Its arms came around her, but at soon as her body came into contact with its chest, she slashed her blades upward, cutting its head clean off. She flipped back down to the ground, eyes narrowed. 

Tsuki screamed, “KANA TURN AROUND!” 

Kana looked over her shoulder and up at a ten meter class. She nearly dropped her weapons. How the fuck had it snuck up on her!? It was already reaching down for her. Barely evading its hand, she turned, cutting its wrist open but its other hand was already about to wrap around her. She cursed until she saw a blur pass her and go right to the neck of the Titan. 

It immediately started falling. Kana gasped as she was scooped up, then Tsuki, and the giant Titan fell on the house and all the other Titans, crushing them in one blow. 

They were both set down away from the body of the giant Titan and Tsuki commented, “Now that was cool. Why didn’t you do that, Kana?” 

Kana was about to snap something smart at her when their savior, Levi, grabbed her arm and shouted, “What in the hell are you thinking!?” Kana’s eyes were wide. He was not calm at all. In the few years she’d known him, she had never seen him like this; so out-rightly furious. And especially never at her… “Are you trying to get yourself killed? I swear, you – “ 

“Levi.” 

Levi stopped and gritted his teeth, looking away as Erwin jumped off his horse and walked up to them. He demanded, “What do you two have to say for yourselves?” 

“We – “ Kana started, but Tsuki cut her off, “Sir! I’ll explain everything! I forced Kana to come with me. I threatened her life if she didn’t help me. So she – “ Tsuki flinched when Levi suddenly glared at her and started to move in on her when Erwin put his arm up and stopped him. Hesitantly, Tsuki continued, “We discovered something… I…” 

When Tsuki’s voice drifted, Kana picked up, “Titans won’t eat her. I saw it with my own eyes. They’ll attack her like any other human, but when they actually catch her, they smell her and then stop. I watched a Titan even carefully set her back down, being careful not to hurt her.” 

Erwin’s eyes were wide. Then they narrowed. “So it wasn’t a fluke in Trost? No Titan will devour you.” 

Tsuki shook her head. “That’s how I survived the initial Titan attack. I walked around all the Titans within Wall Maria to get to Wall Rose. It had been so long since I’d seen a Titan since… I assumed I was just lucky. But when it happened again… I made Kana come with me so I could test it out and show her.” 

“Why didn’t you inform us?” Erwin demanded. 

Tsuki looked down. “I was confused… and scared. No one ever wants to admit they’re different, Commander.” 

Erwin kneeled down to her and asked, “What if different means you can save the Human Race?” 

Tsuki’s eyes widened. “Y-You think…?” 

“It certainly can’t hurt. We don’t know anything unless we try.” Erwin explained. He sighed and looked around. “But let’s get back within the walls before more Titans show up.” 

“Yessir!” Tsuki called, excitedly. 

Erwin called back to the squad. “We’re heading back. We’ll move slowly to avoid alerting any Titans. Obviously some of these Titans are still able to move at night. Be cautious.” To the girls, he ordered, “Hop up with someone. If we meet any Titans, I’d like to see this ability of yours myself. You trust that we’ll guard you?” 

Tsuki nodded. 

Petra trotted her horse up to Tsuki and leaned a hand down to her, helping her up. 

Erwin walked by Levi and scolded, “Get it together, this isn’t like you.” 

Levi was staring at the ground. “Sir.” 

Gunther was about to help Kana up onto his horse, when Levi put his arm between and said, without looking at him. “I’ve got her.” 

Gunther dipped his head. “Yes, Captain.” He trotted on back to his position in the formation. 

Kana waited until Levi was back up on his horse and pulled her up as well. She was careful to wrap her arms around him as the horse started trotting forward. Once he was lined up with Erwin, they all started galloping forward and she had to tighten her grip. To her, it seemed, as they were running that Levi was avoiding getting to close to Erwin. Was something else going on? 

“You’re going to be the death of me.” Levi stated suddenly, quietly. 

Oh. He was keeping the commander out of hearing distance. Kana leaned her forehead on his back. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. “But we had to find out.” 

There was a long pause. He asked, “Why didn’t you ask me for help? Did you think I wouldn’t?” 

“How could I ask you to disobey an order? Or to do something like this?” Kana sighed. “Besides, it looks like you’re getting yourself in enough trouble because of me.” 

“I can handle trouble.” Levi retorted. “Next time you do something stupid… let me know. So that I can protect you.” 

Kana’s eyes widened before tearing up a little. Her grip on him clenched and her voice cracked when she asked, “Why do you take protecting me so seriously?” 

Levi didn’t say anything else the rest of the way back, neither did Kana. But after she had asked that question, Levi had taken a hand off the reins and squeezed hers on his waist. It was all the response she had needed. She buried her face against the wings of freedom symbol on his back and just enjoyed the ride back. No Titans had crossed their path. 

Finally, the night seemed to settle.


	24. Putting the Past Behind

“I heard you were almost eaten.” 

Kana glared up at Mizuki. She was laying on the couch and the little girl was sitting on the arm of the couch, leaning over her head. Kana took a drink of her water and asked, “Where’d you hear that?” 

“You were thinking it.” 

Kana rolled her eyes and sat up. “What’s up with you, kid? Do you even understand what you’re saying?” 

“Yes. Oh wait, you do understand English, right?” Mizuki asked. 

Kana’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you go back to wherever you had been?” 

“I’d been here.” Mizuki frowned. 

“I mean before I brought you back from the Military Court.” 

“Yeah. I was here.” 

“No you weren’t.” 

“I was hiding.” 

“Where?” Just as Kana demanded, there was a knock on the door. 

Camden shot up and squealed. “I got it!” 

Kana shouted at him about not answering doors, but the kid was already racing across the house. She glared back at Mizuki. “I don’t get you…” 

She just smiled at her. Itski, who’d chased after Camden, was screaming at the top of her lungs. “TAG. TAG. TAG. TAG.” 

Camden held the door closed and called, “You can only come in if you play tag with us.” 

From the other side of the door, Kana heard, “Then you’d better start running.” 

Camden and Itski squealed and ran away from the door. A confused Aya just blindly chased after her older brother. Kana stood up to open the door, but Levi was already walking in. Kana arched a brow. “Hm, what are you doing here?” 

“I figured the picky kids wouldn’t eat your cooking.” He commented, setting a bag of food on the table. The first thing she noticed was that he wasn’t in his usual Survey Corps attire. She’d never seen him out of it before, but she couldn’t complain. The obsidian jacket looked good on him. 

Kana smiled warmly and said, “Good luck rounding them up since you got them running across the house.” 

 

Leah giggled. “You look spiffy.” 

“Spiffy?” Armin repeated. 

Leah, Tsukiko, Clay, Mikasa, and everyone else that had made it into the Survey Corps were all sitting around a little fire, having a small camp out, just having a good time. The next day they were going to be preparing for a mission to join the senior Survey Corps members on an expedition beyond the walls to test Eren’s Titan powers. 

Leah smiled. “I think the Survey Corps symbol looks spiffy on you.” 

“Is that good or bad?” Armin asked worriedly. 

Leah laughed harder. “It’s good, don’t worry so much.” 

“We all earned it.” Clay stated. “It looks good on all of us.” 

“But best on me.” Tsukiko played. Reiner who was sitting next to her, laughed and agreed. 

Mikasa looked at Tsuki. “I heard that you and Kana went over the wall here a while back. What for?” 

“And why didn’t you drag us along?” Leah demanded, pointing to her and Clay. 

Tsuki put her hands up. “It was kind of a split second idea. We didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. We just did it.” 

“But why?” Clay pressed. 

Tsuki looked down. “It wasn’t just luck. Titans won’t eat me. I wanted to show Kana.” 

Leah gasped, “That’s suicide! What if you would have been wrong? Two people alone in Titan territory is just stupid!” 

Clay shook his head. “Damn you two are crazy.” 

“The Levi Squad came after us. I was kind of surprised.” Tsuki commented. 

“Well, we all know Kana has it in close with them. Who knows? Maybe she has some big secret as well?” Clay suggested, leaning back on his hands. 

Mikasa commented. “We’re now all a part of the Survey Corps, so it’s not like we’re not in close, right?” 

Clay shrugged. “That’s true. But still, we’re noobs and we don’t know much ourselves, yet, right?” 

Armin looked at him curiously. “You seem like you’re just brushing it off. Why did you join the Survey Corps?” 

Clay looked at him with a devious smirk. “Why did you?” 

Leah suggested, “Why don’t we all share?” 

Tsukiko raised her hand. “I’ll start!” She looked up at the sky and her vivid blue eyes closed for a moment. Everyone seemed to follow suit, relaxing in the comfortable evening air. “I knew as soon as I came here that I was going to be a Survey Corps member. When I was little and ran away, Titans wouldn’t eat me. I wanted to become a member so I could return. I wanted to find out more about myself. And… I wanted to help someone, somehow. If I couldn’t be eaten, maybe I could save other lives?” 

Tsuki looked to her right, at Reiner. He chuckled and looked down. “Well… my reasoning isn’t anything so noble. I… I just want to get back to my village. I want to go back no matter what… even if there’s nothing left.” 

Tsuki changed her focus to Bert who was next to him. “Do you feel the same way?” When he nodded, Tsuki asked, “You guys loved your home village, huh?” 

They nodded when Jean piped up. “Mine… as well, is nothing noble. In fact… mine is selfish.” His hands clenched into fists. “Marco died and no one saw him; how or when… nothing. I burned his body along with the others… and I know he’s looking down on me. I don’t want to disappoint him.” 

Tsuki curled her knees up to her chest. “I don’t think that’s selfish at all, Jean. You want to be the best you can be for a fallen comrade. I think… that’s as noble as it gets…” 

Jean’s cheeks turned a hot red and he looked away. “Y-you think so?” When Tsuki giggled and nodded, Jean felt like his heart would explode. Not only was she the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but that giggle and smile was for him and him alone. He could have died happy in that moment. But when he saw her turn back to Reiner and giggle again, he felt like his world fell apart. How could he ever tell her how he felt when he knew she loved another person? 

“A literally just joined because I’m good at it.” Clay explained, but his eyes were distant. “I can kill Titans. So I figured I should put my skills to some use. Besides, I like riding with our crew.” 

Mikasa giggled and added, “I just want to protect those close to me.” 

Armin nodded, “I want to stay with my friends. If nothing else, I can use my mind to help others.” 

Leah reached over and took his hand, a bright smile on her lips. “You’re a ton of help. And I can tell you’ll continue to be.” Armin returned her smile and she stated, “I just want to go outside the walls. I think my big sis is still out there somewhere. I cling to that chance with all my life.” 

“Your big sis?” Tsuki questioned. “You never mentioned you had a sister.” 

“I don’t anymore.” Leah explained. “She sacrificed herself so I could escape. I never saw her die. When I saw her last, she was still fighting with all her strength. She was… even glowing. I admired her so much. I would like… to at least find her body. I want to give her a proper burial.” 

Tsuki’s eyes warmed. “We’ll do everything we can, Leah. I swear.” 

Leah hugged her friend. “Thanks, Tsukiko.” 

“No matter the reason…” Clay stated suddenly. “We’ll fight together. I know with all of us, we can destroy the Titans. We’ll take back our world.” 

Tsukiko jumped up. “You’re damn straight we will!” 

“C’mon guys.” Jean stated. “It’s getting late. We have a long week ahead of us.” 

Leah let out a loud yawn. “Yeah, it’s bed time.” 

 

Camden slowly moved to the edge of the bed. His movements were all precise and cautious. He waited for his enemy. Besides his breathing, the house was totally silent. Had he not known any better, he would have thought he were alone in this great house. 

A quiet noise. 

He jumped and turned, dropping down. His eyes scanned under the bed. There wasn’t any feet on the other side. He let out a breath. It must have been his imagination. He looked at the door. That was his only way of escaping. If he could just get to that door, he was home free. 

Suddenly, he heard the bed beside him creek and his enemy came flying at him. He jumped out of the way just as Levi landed where he would have been. He accidentally let out a scream of sheer fear and ran blindly out of the room, shouting, “You’ll never catch me!” 

“You’re fast for a kid, but no match for me.” Levi told him, giving chase. 

Camden looked over his shoulder as he ran into the living room. His eyes widened when he saw his youngest sister jump out of one of the rooms to try and follow him, only to get scooped up by the enemy. “Aya! No!!!!” 

“Gotcha.” Levi chuckled, holding the squirming girl under his arm. He stopped when Itski viciously attacked his leg. 

“Leggo! Leggo! Leggo!” Itski ordered. Levi leaned down and picked her up as well and walked into the dining room. 

He handed the girls off to Kana and said, “I managed to catch two of them.” 

“One more to go.” Kana laughed, sitting them down at the table where their plates of food were waiting. Upon seeing the meals, they immediately forgot their game of tag and began to devour it. 

Camden jumped on the back of the couch and shouted, “No! Girls! It’s a trick! They’re trying to distract you so we’ll forget about our goals!” 

Kana glared at him and scolded, “What have I told you about climbing on the back of the couch?” 

“I do what I want!” Camden shrieked and then gasped when Levi grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air. “Put me down! AUGH Damn you!” His little feet flopped around in the air, trying to reach for the ground. 

Kana scolded again, “Watch your tongue!” 

Levi turned him around and gave him his scariest look. “Would you rather eat your sisters food?” 

Camden immediately went limp with fear and whimpered, “No please, anything but that…” 

“Then go to the table.” Levi ordered, setting him down. The little rebel abruptly climbed into his chair and ravenously ate his food. 

This time, Kana was glaring at Levi as he sat at the table as well. “What have I told you about using my food as a threat? It’s not that bad!” 

“Yes, for the pigs.” Levi stated, no hint of joking. 

Kana gasped as she set a cup of tea down for him, she hit him upside the head as well. “You jerk!” 

There was a warm smile on his lips as he sipped at his tea. “I don’t mind it though.” 

“Shut up.” Kana snapped, sitting beside him. As they sat down and ate, there was pretty mild conversation, but the air around them seemed a little tense. Occasionally, Kana reached over, wiping off Aya’s face when she spilled food on herself. “Hey, Levi. Since we’re all going beyond the walls tomorrow, is anyone going to be able to come over and take care of these guys?” 

“I can take care of ourselves.” Camden glared at her. 

“Shut up squirt, you’re like nine.” Kana teased. 

“I’M TEN DAMMIT!” He slammed his fist down on the table. 

Kana pointed a dramatic finger at him. “Curse one more time and I’m taking your marbles.” 

He quieted and went back to eating. Levi leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I spoke to Hanji. She can come over and make some food for them, but she won’t be able to come over three times a day. She said she’ll set up some meals in the morning and it’ll be up to the grown up over here to make sure he and his sisters eat properly.” 

“At least someone notices.” Camden grumbled. 

“That was sarcasm. Brat.” Kana retorted. Camden glared at her again. She sighed and to Levi, said, “I guess that works. As long as they don’t starve.” 

“You know I won’t let that happen. Hanji is reliable.” Levi assured her.


	25. Rumors

A twelve meter Titan. 

A twelve meter Titan was walking down the street inside of Wall Rose. They had broken through the next wall. They had already finished devouring half of the population. At the rate this was going, the Human race was going to be completely lost. 

But that’s not what bothered him. 

The Survey Corps was first on the front lines. Many of his comrades had already been killed. Blood lined the streets and the buildings. Pieces of bodies were strewn about like easter eggs. 

That’s still not what bothered him. 

He ran by the Titan, not even paying any mind to the great beast or its hungry eyes. He rounded the corner and ran to the house he’d gone to a hundred times. The building had been crushed. If anyone had been inside, they were gone. If they weren’t inside, then most likely – 

The sound of crying caught his attention. He looked a block down from the crushed home to see three children in the middle of the street, a Titan was leaning down to pick them up. The first one that the Titan got was Camden who was desperately shielding his sisters. 

“Camden!!!” 

He turned just in time to see Kana rush by him and to her family. “PUT HIM DOWN YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!” She jumped into the air without hesitation and slashed down at the wrist of the Titan. It let go of her brother, but grabbed a hold of her with its other hand. 

“Kana!” The scream ripped from his throat suddenly. He charged for the Titan, reaching for his blades, but he realized they weren’t there. He gasped and looked down. All of his gear was gone. By the time he looked back up, he was blind-sided by the sickening sight of Kana’s body being broken between the teeth of the monster and her remaining limbs fell helplessly to the ground. 

He couldn’t move. His entire body was frozen solid. Even as the Titan picked up the children one by one, he couldn’t find the strength to do anything. He was useless. He had ruined everything. That family was gone. Destroyed. Before his very eyes and it was his fault. 

He heard Erwins voice, “Can you follow your orders even if it means sacrificing her?” 

 

Levi sat up suddenly out of bed, his body covered in a layer of sweat. He held his face and before he could even get his bearings, he leaned over the side of his bed, throwing up into the trashcan. He sat there a moment, panting and trying to get himself together. His other hand clenched into a fist. “God… what have I done…” 

 

Kana walked through town, pulling at the belt on her shoulder. She had gotten new gear after losing hers in Trost and getting a protest about stealing someone else’s gear to go on her midnight stroll with Tsuki. 

“The wall was ‘sealed’? How’d they manage that!?” 

Kana paused. 

“Of course it’s all lies! This is royal propaganda.” “They’re spreading those lies around to keep us commoners in the interior in the dark.” “The bastards from outside the wall are already rushing through Wall Sina!” 

“Terrible news from the merchants!” 

Kana looked back to see that the people were gathering in a crowd, gossiping about what they were reading in the paper. 

“The merchant’s association? How can we believe information that isn’t certified by the monarchy?” “How can we believe that the information from the monarchy is correct?” 

“What the hell does this mean?” “A Titan sealed up the gate…? With a boulder…?” “What does that mean?” “Is a Titan on our side?” 

Kana couldn’t help the smile that split her face as she kept walking. Eren was going to lead the Human Race to victory. Whether it took time for the people to adjust or not didn’t matter to her. She straightened up and headed to stables where she was going to be meeting with the rest of the squad to round up horses and head out. 

She pushed open the stable doors on the back side and the first person she saw was Eren getting his horse tacked up. As soon as he saw her, he smiled and waved, “Hey Kana! It took you long enough.” 

“Sorry.” Kana told him, trotting on by. “I had to get my new equipment checked out.” 

“Oh yeah, you broke yours in Trost, huh?” Eren started to say something else when Levi walked up, two horses in tow. 

His glare turned first to Eren and he snapped, “Are you ready yet, Brat?” 

Eren flinched and nodded. “Yeah. Kana just got here.” 

Kana dipped her head and said, “Sorry Captain, I forgot having to get new gear. It took longer than I expected.” 

His gaze lingered on her for several moments before he handed the horse to her. “Since you were so late, I took the liberty of setting up your horse for you.” 

Kana hesitated in taking the reins from him. “Th-thanks, Captain.” She watched as he walked on by and out of the stables. She blinked before turning back to Eren and commenting, “He seems bothered.” 

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Eren heaved himself up onto his horse. “Let’s get going.” 

Kana pulled herself up as well and within a few minutes they were off. 

 

“So where are we headed?” Eren asked. The man riding closest to them glared as soon as Eren opened his mouth. 

The guy started riding closer and answered, harshly, “The former headquarters of the Survey Corps. The facility is no more old than a controverted castle; charming in its own way I’m sure. But an HQ this far from the wall or a river was worse than useless. Back then the Corps had just been formed and the soldiers were so full of ambition. Who would have thought this oversized decoration would be the best place to keep you locked up?” 

Eren made a face and looked away from him. But when his gaze landed on Levi, it then turned to a gaze of fear and quickly looked away. Kana giggled and leaned to him, “He scare you now?” 

“A little…” Eren admitted. 

From the other side, the guy leaned in and said, “Don’t get cocky, kid. I don’t know about this Titan business but the idea of Captain Levi constantly chaperoning a piss-ant like you makes me – “ He suddenly stopped talking when he bit his own tongue and it started bleeding over his lip. 

Kana rolled her eyes. “Finally.” 

He glared at her now. “And what about you? Why are you tagging along, squirt?” 

“I was requested to join by Commander Erwin.” Kana answered. 

“Oh, so you think you’re hot-stuff huh? Well remember, we’re the Levi Squad and you two are just tag-alongs. I – “ 

“Oluo, enough.” Levi snapped. 

 

For a while, they rode in silence afterward. With the safety of the walls put far behind them, she was starting to think that there hadn’t been very many Titans at all along their way. Good. Then maybe that wouldn’t run into much trouble today. Just as she started to relax, over the tops of a few trees, she could see a seven meter class started walking towards them. 

Petra gave a shout. “There’s a Titan to our right.” 

Kana pulled in her reins and commented, “I’ll take care of it.” 

“No.” Levi snapped. “Keep moving. We can outrun it.” 

Kana felt a little taken aback but she just relaxed on the horse, keeping her eyes peeled. Eren glanced at her but then looked at Oluo and asked, “How far away is this?” 

“A few more miles out.” He answered, not even looking at him. “And now that we’ve spotted one Titan, we’re bound to meet a few more.” He looked at them and haughtily added, “But don’t worry, we’ll protect you kiddies.” 

Kana rolled her eyes. “I don’t need your protection.” 

“Cocky, too, aren’t we?” Oluo taunted. 

Kana glared at him, but she stopped talking. She could tell that this one was going to get on her nerves. She was just starting to get over his attitude when suddenly one of the trees to their left collapsed right in front of them. A Titan came crawling out, jaws opened, ready to eat them alive. 

Kana pulled her horse to a stop and shouted, “I got it! Just – “ 

“Petra, Gunther, take care of it.” Levi ordered before she could even finish. Just like that, the two of them flew over the back of the Titan and in one swift move, sliced out two pieces of its neck and it dropped helplessly to the ground. 

Levi trotted his horse around the Titan and ordered, “Let’s keep moving.” 

Kana gritted her teeth, but she didn’t say anything. Even when Oluo trotted by and mussed her hair, saying, “Learn your place, brat”, she remained quiet. 

 

Before long, they finally got into view of the castle. Along the way, Oluo had bitten his tongue again. Now Petra was scolding him. “Blathering like that on a horse… of course you’re going to bite your tongue.” 

“I was making a first impression. The rookies were shaking in their boots.” Oluo stated, wiping off his mouth. 

“I think they’re just surprised by what a fool you are.” Petra commented. 

“…Anyway, he’s exactly what I expected.” 

“You know, you never used to talk like this. If… and this is just a guess… you are trying to act like Captain Levi, just stop it would you? I mean, you have absolutely nothing in common with him.” 

Kana and Eren were feeding the horses that they had put up in the stalls, listening to the conversation. 

Oluo scoffed. “Heh, are you trying to rein me in, Petra? If you’re trying to be my wife, you skipped a few steps.” 

Petra huffed, “Don’t you think you’re getting carried away just because the Captain chose you? I wish you’d bitten your tongue off and died from bloodloss.” 

“I’m your comrade! That’s not funny.” 

Kana laughed to herself. Eren questioned, “What are you laughing at?” 

“Petra says exactly what I was thinking. That guy is so annoying.” Kana answered. 

“Yeah, but these guys are the best of the best, hand-picked by Levi himself.” Eren stated, the paused. “Wait, that’s right. You were picked by him as well.” 

She shrugged and then jumped when Petra patted her back. “I don’t think Oluo will mess with you anymore. Sorry about him.” 

Kana smiled. “Oh it’s nothing.” 

They looked over as Gunther, Eldo, and Levi walked up to the front door. Gunther commented, “It hasn’t been used in a long time, so it’s fallen into despair.” 

“That’s a major problem…” Levi growled. “Fix it up immediately.”


	26. Rupture

Kana paused in sweeping up the stairwell. She glared up when she heard footsteps coming down. Eren paused when he saw the malice in her eyes. “Whoa, Kana? This place looks great. Are you okay?” 

Kana kept glaring, still sweeping. “I hope so. Captain Levi’s made me re-clean it three times now. Who knew he was such a neat-freak?” Under her breath, she added, “Explains why the kids house has been so clean.” 

Eren laughed. “I’ve noticed the same thing. I just got done with my first room. Now I’ve gotta find him and ask where I’m supposed to sleep.” 

Kana started to open her mouth when the door just a little further down opened up. Levi looked up at them. Eren trotted down a couple more steps. “Captain, where am I sleeping?” 

“Your room is in the basement.” He answered bluntly. 

“Again?” 

“Naturally. You still can’t control your Titan power. If you’re underground, we’ll still be able to restrain you, even if you turn into one while you’re asleep. That’s one of the conditions we were given when you were placed in our custody. It’s a rule we must follow.” 

Eren blinked, but didn’t have anything to say. 

Levi barely glanced at Kana and commented, “The stairwell looks better. Eren, I’ll go check what you’ve cleaned.” 

Kana’s grip tightened on the broom as she glared at his back as he walked up the stairs. Eren watched her before asking, “Are you okay, Kana? You look really… mad.” 

“I’m fine.” Kana told him, going back to sweeping. 

Petra, who neither realized had been standing there, giggled. “You seem disappointed, Eren.” 

“I do?” 

Kana also looked, curious by Petra’s comment. Petra added, “It’s a typical reaction. He doesn’t seem like the perfect hero people make him out to be, does he? The real Captain Levi is surprisingly short, high-strung, ill-mannered, and unapproachable.” 

“No, what took me by surprise was how obediently he follows orders from above.” Eren responded. 

“You thought because he carries so much weight he wouldn’t be concerned with rank or command structure?” 

“Right. I thought he wouldn’t take orders from anybody.” Eren added. 

“I don’t know all the details, but I think he used to be pretty close to that. I heard that before Captain Levi joined the Survey Corps, he was a notorious thug in the city’s underground market. I don’t know what happened, but some people say that Commander Erwin brought him into the Survey Corps.” 

“The Commander did?” Eren repeated. 

“Hey, Eren.” 

All of them spun around suddenly when they heard Levi’s voice. Eren straightened up and asked, “Yessir?” 

“You call that clean?” Levi narrowed his eyes and demanded, “Do it all again.” 

 

“My arms are killing me.” Kana groaned quietly to herself. 

Eren, sitting across the table, laughed and agreed. “If I don’t ever clean anything else ever, I’d be okay with that.” 

The entire squad was sitting around talking for the evening. The conversation started with talk about the expedition they would all be going on soon, and then it went to them asking Eren about his Titan transforming abilities. However, the conversation was suddenly deterred by the arrival of another Survey Corps member arrived. 

Hanji Zoe sat down in the chair at the very end of the table. She rested her chin on her hands and smiled knowingly at Eren. 

Levi glared at her and said, “You’re early, Hanji.” 

Hanji smiled and patted Eren’s head. “Oh don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud. I want to borrow Eren tomorrow for help with the experiments.” 

“Experiments?” Eren questioned. “What could I…?” 

Hanji gave him another look of happiness. Eren flinched and commented, “Well, I can’t give permission for myself. I don’t have my own authority these days.” 

Hanji looked back over at Levi. “What is Eren doing tomorrow?” 

Levi’s eyebrow twitched. “He’s cleaning the yard.” 

Hanji clasped her hands and shouted, “Perfect, then you’re free!” 

Eren frowned and asked again, “Okay, but what do you mean by Titan experiment?” 

Oluo gasped and yelled at him, “Don’t ask that!” Immediately everyone else on the squad started shuffling out of the room. 

Petra leaned to Kana and whispered, “I think you should excuse yourself as well. Hanji’s experiments are a little… weird…” 

Kana nodded and followed everyone out, waving to Eren as she went. She trotted out of the room and down the hall with the others. Earlier that day, after cleaning, they had all chosen their rooms. Well everyone else had chosen their rooms. She was assigned hers because she was ‘new’ and ‘inexperienced’… according to Oluo. 

Her room was all the way down at the end of the hall. She waved goodnight to Petra and the others, pausing at her door. She looked over her shoulder to see that the room across the hall from hers belonged to Levi. He noticed her as well and arched a brow. She shook her head and started into her room before stopping altogether. 

He was now at his door as well and looked back at her. “Something on your mind, Kana?” 

“No.” Kana stated bitterly. “Goodnight, Captain.” 

“When did this Captain thing start?” 

“Huh?” Kana looked back at him curiously. “What are you talking about?” 

“When did you start calling me Captain?” 

“I assumed I should since I was with your squad. I figured you wouldn’t want anyone to think we were informally involved.” 

He paused, glaring at his feet a moment before turning and heading into his room. Kana stomped a foot and turned around again. “No, I have a question for you, too, Captain.” 

Levi turned on back around again, his brows arched in genuine shock. “Excuse me?” 

She pointed a finger at him. “Why won’t you let me fight any Titans? I can handle myself, but you purposely kept sending other squad members to fight in my place.” 

Levi’s eyes suddenly dulled into two voids of emotionlessness. “You think that’s what I was doing? You and Eren are the newest members to our squad. I made the strategic decision for my senior members to fight to avoid any unnecessary errors caused by your and Eren’s lack of experience.” 

Kana glared at him and crossed her arms. “You and I both know that’s a lie. You always follow orders and that’s not what the Commander told you to do.” 

Levi’s eyes narrowed and he scoffed. “I know what the Commander said.” 

 

“Sir?” Kana waited for the Commander to answer before opening the door and walking in with Levi right behind her. 

“Yes Kana?” Erwin asked, setting the papers down that were on his desk. “Can I help you?” 

Kana dipped her head. “I just had a couple questions… about… the mission you want me to go on. I was told you wanted me to join the expedition outside the walls?” 

“Yes.” Erwin answered. “I want you to be there for testing Eren’s Titan abilities.” 

“Is that the only reason?” Kana pressed. 

Erwin watched her closely a moment, then switched a glance to Levi and back again. “No. You’re perceptive.” 

“I’m a thief. I had to be in order to live.” 

Erwin sat up and crossed his arms on the desk. “I do have an ulterior motive. You’ve had Levi’s interest from day one. However you peaked mine as well when you survived 24 hours in Titan domain with no maneuver gear. There were countless Titans there and you were able to fight them without mobility. I’m curious as to see how strong you are when you’re on par with everyone else.” 

“So both Eren and I are being tested?” 

“Yes. On this mission both Eren’s control and your abilities should be put to the limit.” Erwin’s eyes moved back to Levi again. “This is an important mission for all of you. Depending on the success of this assignment will change our course of action.” 

“Sir.” Kana agreed, glancing at Levi in time to see him look away. 

 

“I’m supposed to be doing the fighting. Why won’t you let me?” Kana demanded, her voice rising. 

Levi gritted his teeth, but he wouldn’t look at her so she couldn’t read his expressions. “I made a simple choice. Petra and Gunther were closer, so I sent them. Now do you want to question my authority any further?” 

Kana’s hands clenched. “It’s not your authority I’m questioning. Look, I didn’t agree to come along so I could be some burden! Stop treating me like one.” 

“You think you’re being treated as a burden?” Levi snapped. “Think what you want!” 

“How am I supposed to do as I’m told if your calls are preventing me from doing my job?” 

“Your job is to obey your superiors!” 

“That’s why I’m trying to do but you won’t let me!” 

“Just do as you’re told!” 

“I can’t as long you’re – “ 

Kana gasped when Levi suddenly grabbed her by the arm and yanked her into his room, slamming the door and pushing her back against it. “Would you shut up?” 

Kana glared at him. “What the hell is going on? You found me, you pushed me into the Survey Corps. Now when it came right down to it, you tried talking me out of it and now that I’m here, you won’t even let me be of any help!” 

For several more moments, his grip was tight on her arm, almost to the point of shaking before he finally loosened his grip and let his arm fall. His voice was hoarse as he asked, “Why do you think, Kana?” 

“I don’t know, Captain, that’s why I’m asking – “ 

“Enough with the Captain.” 

Kana just stared at him, and, not sure what else to say, “O-okay…” 

Levi sighed and stepped back until he collapsed onto the mattress behind him. “I’ve seen thousands of soldiers die on the battlefield. Many of them were close comrades of mine. But this time, it’s different.” 

Kana took one step towards him. “What do you mean?” 

Levi hid his face behind his hand. “I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. The thought alone keeps me awake at night.” 

Kana stared in awe at him. She slowly moved towards him and sat beside him. “Levi…?” 

“That’s the truth for you, Kana.” He still wouldn’t look at her. “That’s why I’m struggling to follow the Commanders orders.” 

She slid her hand to his and squeezed softly. To her surprise, his immediately squeezed back. She reached her hand to the other side of his face and tilted his head towards hers. “Levi. I swear to you. I will always come back.” 

Slowly, he leaned down to her, his head falling in the crook of her neck. He seemed to relax for the first time against her. He whispered, “I don’t want any unnecessary deaths. I’m sick of watching people die.” 

She carefully wrapped her arms around him and held him as she relaxed as well.


	27. The Ache

Kana stood with the crowd of soldiers, watching Hanji scream and cry for her murdered Titan experiments. There was conversation rippling through the soldiers about the culprit. Apparently they had seen someone take off with their gear after killing the Titans. 

Kana had been beside Eren, watching Hanji fall apart over the loss of her Titans when Erwin walked up to them suddenly and put his hands on their shoulders. He asked, “What do you see? Who do you think the enemy is?” 

They both just stared at him, not sure how to answer a question like that. He patted their shoulders and started to stand back up. “Sorry for asking you a strange question like that.” As he started to walk away, Kana stopped him. 

“Our enemy isn’t a Titan.” Kana told him so only he could hear. “Our enemy is… one of our own.” 

Erwin stood still for a moment before smirking. “I should have known.” He looked over at Levi and said suddenly. “Kana is going to come with me for a while. I’ll send her back with an escort later this evening.” 

Levi looked at Kana suspiciously before nodding. “Alright.” 

 

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” 

Kana stood, eyes wide, facing her Commander. He had endowed to her his plan and his suspicions. They all made sense. Someone in their ranks was like Eren. And that person had been feeding information to the Titans all along. 

Hoarsely, Kana stated, “That’s why… they attacked Trost when they did. They knew the Survey Corps was gone.” 

Erwin nodded. “Honestly… for the longest time. I believed you were the perpetrator. I know that Levi has seen your talent and thought otherwise, but when I looked at you and remembered you were a thief, I anticipated the worst.” 

“I don’t fault you for that.” Kana stated. “But why are you telling me this? When you haven’t told anyone else?” 

“I told myself only someone who could answer that question was worthy of hearing my theories. I can’t rule out anyone. Especially Eren or my closest captains.” 

“Okay. Now that you’ve told me, what’s your plan? What do you want me to do?” 

“Assuming that my theory is correct and someone within our military is working for the Titans… and also assuming that this means they have the same ability as Eren, it means when we leave on our expedition… our enemy could very well be an intelligent Titan.” 

“Most likely either the Colossal or Armored Titans.” 

“Yes.” Erwin hesitated and sighed. “Unfortunately, I need you to do the worst task possible.” 

“Hm?” 

“You and your squad could very well be our strongest team. I placing Trinity+1 on the front line in our formation; but you have a more specific duty.” 

“I’m listening…” 

“When you see black smoke. We have to anticipate the possibility that it’s not an aberrant at all, that it’s an intelligent Titan. Your job is going to be to go to the black smoke and prevent as many loss of lives as you can. Plan A would be to have you stop the Titan yourself and find out who controls it. If you find that not even you can stop it, then Plan B is to have you withdraw to Eren who will be in the rear center. At that point, all you need to do is stay between the Titan and Eren at all costs. Slow it down, whatever you must.” 

“You think they’ll be after Eren?” Kana asked. 

“I have my reasons for believing such.” Erwin explained. “Can you follow this order?” 

Kana dipped her head. “Yessir.” 

“You inform no one of your orders. Not even Levi.” 

Much more slowly, she answered, “Understood.” 

 

Kana winced, “Ow.” 

“Oh quit whining, brat.” Levi ordered, pulling another lock of hair into place. 

Kana was kneeled with her back to him while he sat in a chair. He was pulling her dark hair into a braid that wrapped around her head. She seethed, “You said you were going to put my hair up so I wouldn’t kill myself with it, not rip it out so I wanted to kill myself.” 

“If you wouldn’t be such a baby about it…” Levi retorted, purposely pulling harder on a couple strands. 

Kana squealed and hissed, “It’d be easier if you just ripped it all out at once, Levi.” 

“Shut up or I really will just rip it out.” He ordered. 

Kana grumbled, “Yes sir.” 

Levi pinned another lock up and asked, “So what did the Commander discuss with you?” 

Kana sighed and answered, “He gave me specific orders for our expedition. But he said I’m not allowed to discuss them.” 

Levi’s eyes widened a bit and Kana heard a pin fall behind her. After a pause, he reached down, picking it back up and continued, “He told you to even keep it a secret from me?” 

“Yes…” Kana whispered. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine. I respect his decisions.” Levi informed. “But you came back pretty late. Were you really talking with the Commander all day?” 

“Hm. No.” Kana told him. “The escort he gave me was my friends. So we had dinner before we left. Were you worried?” 

He tugged suddenly harder on her hair and growled, “Don’t ask stupid questions.” Kana laughed softly, but she heard him whisper, “Of course I was worried.” 

Kana blushed and smiled. “Sorry.” 

“You had a good time, though?” He asked. 

“Yeah. I miss them.” Kana whispered, but her thoughts were elsewhere. They were back to the café. The café where she learned even more about her mysterious friends… 

 

“That roll was mine, Tsuki, give it back!” Leah ordered. Just as Tsuki went to hand it back to her, Clay reached across the table and snatched it from them both. 

Kana was laughing as they were all squealing just like they always did. It didn’t matter what was happening in the world around them, this crew never ceased to make her feel at peace and happy with what was happening. 

Leah started throwing food at Clay when she froze all together. 

Tsuki looked at her worriedly. “Leah, are you okay?” 

Their friends face went pale and she started breathing heavy. Kana put her hands on her friends shoulders. “Did you eat something bad?” 

Leah shook her head and looked back over her shoulder as a woman walked out of the café. Leah whispered hoarsely, “If I told you guys something, would you think I’m a freak?” 

“Depends on what it is.” Tsuki answered, “If you’re going to tell me about your sexual preferences, please leave out details.” 

Leah laughed weakly and answered, “I get bad stomach aches… when someone around me is going to die…” 

“WHAT.” They all shouted together. 

Leah nodded and pointed to the door. “I-I’ll show you…” 

All of them paid and followed Leah down the street, following the woman that had walked by and caused Leah’s sudden stomach pain. After about ten minutes, the woman stopped walking and began to tremble. She let out a short noise before dropping to the ground. 

Letting out a shriek, Tsuki and Clay ran over and checked the ladies vitals. During the next hour, they had cleaned up the body and revealed that she had died of a heart attack. 

Kana just stood speechless and looked at Leah. “Does this happen often?” 

Leah nodded. “The more my stomach hurts, the closer they are to death. I can’t always pinpoint exactly who’s going to die… but… when it happens suddenly and a new person enters my space, it’s easy to figure out.” 

Tsuki rubbed Leah’s shoulders. “So that’s how you knew that Kana wasn’t dead in Trost. Makes much more sense now.” 

Leah nodded. “My stomach had hurt a little, but not at all around you guys. When I was first rattled by the Colossal Titan showing up, its cause my stomach started to hurt so bad. All of those peoples life forces were suddenly drained and I could feel it.” 

“So…” Clay commented. “You can only sense death when the factor is implemented?” 

“If their fate is changed, they may not die.” Leah explained. “But when it’s already too late to change anything, that’s when I feel my stomach get queasy.” 

“Interesting…” Clay stated. 

“That must be so terrible to live with.” Tsuki told Leah. 

“Maybe it can help.” Leah turned to Kana. “Maybe… it’s still possible to stop someones death after my stomach ache comes on? We could maybe defy death?” 

Kana smiled a bit. “It’s worth a shot.” 

 

Kana closed her eyes. The feel of Levi’s fingers in her hair, coupled with the long day and the knowledge of what was to come had her worn out. She was almost about to doze off when Levi patted her shoulders. “There. Now maybe you won’t die.” 

She elbowed him and leaned back, using his thigh as a pillow. “Thanks.” 

“You should get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day.” Levi scolded. 

“Levi… what do you do… when people look at you so hopefully… and you don’t know if you can live up to their expectations or not…?” Kana whispered so softly. 

Levi stiffened a bit, his arms sliding around her neck. “You’ll just have to get used to faking it. No one knows how things will turn out. You either will or won’t. But in the face of your comrades, you have to lie and tell them it will work out no matter what. Give them something to live for more than something die for.” 

Kana smiled just a bit. “You’re such a great captain…” 

He scoffed and stood up, picking her up and carrying her to the bed. “We’ll get in trouble if anyone sees you were in here this late. Just sleep in here.” 

“Okay…” Kana mumbled, already lulled off by the time he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. 

Levi’s eyes were sad as he gazed upon her. “I already know too much about having to face those hopeful eyes, Kana…” 

 

Tsuki was shouting with excitement as the soldiers on top of the wall announced thirty seconds to gate opening. Survey Corps members were shuffling around on their horses to find their positions. Tsuki asked them, “Are you guys ready for this!? We’re finally going outside the walls!” 

Kana teased, “I’ve already been outside the walls.” 

“Don’t rub it in.” Clay ordered, glaring at her. 

“Let’s kick some ass!!! Yeah!!!” Tsuki was squealing. 

Leah laughed at her friend before suddenly flinching. Her skin went pale and her friends turned around to face her. “What’s wrong?” Kana asked. 

“I feel sick, guys. Terribly, horribly sick…” Leah’s eyes were wide. 

Tsuki assured her. “Hey, we knew that people were gonna die on this mission. It’s okay.” 

Kana started to say something else when she was distracted by the Levi Squad trotting by and into their positions. She met Levi’s gaze for a moment, but not enough that anyone could have noticed. 

Once they were back out of sight, Leah’s eyes widened and she sat back up. “It passed…” 

Kana’s blood ran cold and her eyes widened. It couldn’t be. No… 

“It’s… someone in the Levi Squad.”


	28. Charge

Leah fired the green smoke round for their team. 

They had been running for about an hour now, but nothing unusual seemed to be rattling their expedition. Kana narrowed her eyes. Maybe Erwin was wrong. She kept her reins looped up tight between her hands. 

Up ahead a Titan was walking on top of some old abandoned houses. 

Tsuki asked Kana, “Do we fire?” 

“No, let’s kill it.” Kana told her. She had just barely glanced at Clay before he jumped up, his gear sinking a hook into the Titan’s back and pulling him forward. In less than two seconds, he had the Titan’s neck chopped out and was back in his saddle. “Good.” 

Kana looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. In the farthest back right flank, she saw a shot of black smoke go up. Her hands shook. There it was. The moment she was waiting for. She announced. “I’m afraid I gotta go guys. I was given specific orders as support. You guys can hold the front lines, can’t you?” 

“Fuck that.” Tsuki told her. “We’re all going.” 

“No. Tsuki. You have to stay.” Kana stated. “Erwin put you up front purposely in hopes that you can deter some of the Titans away from us. You have to stay here.” 

“Then Leah and I will join you.” Clay stated. “You’re not going in alone.” 

“You can’t leave Tsuki by herself.” Kana snarled. “Just follow your orders.” 

Leah smiled at her friend. “We don’t follow orders, we follow our friends.” 

“We follow you.” Clay stated. “What do you want us to do?” 

Kana gritted her teeth. What was really the right call? She shouted, “Leah, Tsuki, you two stay up front. Clay and I will go deal with the Aberrant.” She looked at Clay. “But if we can’t take it down, you return up here with the girls, got it?” 

“And what are you going to do?” Clay asked, then his eyes narrowed. “Why are we discussing this? Why wouldn’t we be able to take down one Titan?” 

“I’m just speaking hypothetically.” Kana stated, suddenly yanking back on the reins and pulling her horse to a stop. Clay stopped as well. Squads flew by them at incredible speeds. She watched Erwin fly by, giving her the slightest nod of approval. 

She pulled her horse around and started loping towards the right flank. While weaving around the other horses, she spotted Levi who watched her with wide eyes. 

 

Eren watched Kana and Clay take off to the black smoke. He asked, “Where are they going?” 

“I’m sure it has to do with their secret orders from Commander Erwin.” Levi stated bitterly. He gritted his teeth. You’re really testing me, aren’t you, Commander? 

 

Kana was pushing her horse as hard as she could and Clay was keeping pace. They arrived on the scene of a 16 meter class female Titan being confronted by two senior soldiers. Kana sprinted her horse right past Armin. She shouted over her shoulder at Clay, “Cover Armin! I’m going to try and save these two!” 

Clay nodded and reined his horse back, circling around Armin. The blonde boy shouted, “That Titan is intelligent!” 

Clay looked back at Kana and the female Titan. She had grabbed the wire that connected to her neck and spun Captain Ness around in the air, about to throw him into the ground. Kana ran her horse by, catching the Captain before he was slammed into the ground. She had jumped off her horse and used herself as a cushion. 

Not missing a beat, she jumped up, checked his vitals and helped him up. “Take my horse and get out of here.” 

“I – “ 

“Warn the Commander that there’s an intelligent Titan on our right flank. Go now!” Kana was running towards the Female Titan who had her back to Armin and Clay and was watching her now. Kana used her gear to pull her towards one of the small houses, but the Female spun, kicking the house right out from under her feet. Kana gasped and flipped around to the next rooftop like the flying rubble. 

A rock landed on her shoulder, ripping off her Survey Corps poncho. “Shit.” She flipped back up and narrowly jumped out of the way of the Titan’s fist. “The fuck am I fighting… I can’t – “ She kicked the stone tower that was behind Kana and the rocks came tumbling down at her. 

She launched her gear, sinking into the Female Titan’s hip to pull her narrowly out of the way of the tumbling stones. She couldn’t catch her breath. As she swung in, the Female reached for her but Kana drew her swords and tried to cut her leg. But to miss her hand, she had to abandon the attack and took the hit to the ground. 

She rolled her hands and knees, looking up and seeing the giant foot about to crush her. Before it came down on her, two wire shot over her head. Each going for a different ankle. In order to avoid having her ankles chopped out, she stopped trying to stomp on Kana and jumped out of the way so the wires disconnected from her skin. 

Reiner and Clay rolled to either side of her. Kana snapped at them. “What are you doing!? Get out of here!” 

“We all need to get out of here.” Reiner scolded. “We can’t fight a Titan of this size without anything to use our gear with.” 

Clay nodded to Kana, “Let’s pull back. I’m sure the Commander will come up with a plan.” 

Kana flipped her head. “You guys take Armin and meld in with another squad. I’ve got to hold her back.” She jumped to her feet and charged at the Female who ran right back towards her. She fired her gear and hooked into the Titan’s chest, reeling herself in. 

When she swung her hand around to grab her, she fired her other hook into her other arm, pulling her out of the way. She was able to cut near her elbow, but that didn’t do her any good. She reached up with her other arm about to grab Kana, but Reiner and Clay reeled themselves up, cutting either side of her wrist so the hand fell clean off. 

The other hand came up, grabbing Reiner. 

Clay and Kana both shouted. When they landed, Kana stumbled and collapsed down to one knee. Fighting a Titan like this was a whole new level. She already felt exhausted and out worn down. She got back to her feet, panting, and ordered. “Clay.” Before she could say any more, Reiner burst from the Titan’s grasp after cutting off her fingers and landed down beside of them. 

“Nice.” Kana told him. 

Reiner dipped his head and asked, “What’s the plan guys? I don’t think the three of us are enough.” 

Armin ran up and shouted, “I’ll distract her! You guys get out of here!” 

Kana shook her head. “We have three horses left.” She stated, counting the one that Jean rode up on. “You guys go, warn the other squads. I was given orders to keep from losing any more lives than necessary. I’ll keep her focused on me until the Commander creates a new plan.” 

Clay smirked and pointed at Reiner and Armin. “You heard her, go.” 

Just like that, the three of them loped off, back to the center of the formation. Kana glared at Clay. “I was including you.” 

“Tsuki would kill me if I ditched you here.” He raised his blades and looked up at the Female Titan running towards them again. “Besides. Trinity fights together.” 

“We’ll distract it as long as we can. When I say to retreat, you go back to the front lines. I have to report to the Commander.” Kana explained. 

“Got it, Boss-lady.” 

They both flew up towards the Female Titan. Clay distracted her by swinging around, going for her ankles again. She reached down, trying to grab him, but he released his wire and rolled across the ground, narrowly missing her hands. He looked up, seeing Kana swinging around as though going for her neck. She reached one hand up and covered her weak spot. 

Kana smirked. “I knew you’d do that.” She took her opening and flipped on around, her blades grazing the side of her face, aimed for her eye. Her head flipped around and she tried to take a bit out of her, but missed by just an inch. Kana gasped when her free hand came up and caught the back of her shirt. Her eyes widened as the thread tore in the grasp of the monster. 

If she had her hair down, she’d have been scalped and killed in an instant. She turned towards the monster, a look of horror on her face. The Female threw her own hand down, ripping the back of Kana’s shirt off and throwing her down into a rooftop and tumbling into rubble. Her back slammed into it full force and she coughed, gagging on blood. 

Clay rushed up to her. “You okay?” 

Kana’s eyes widened. “Move!” 

They both jumped opposite ways as the fist came into the roof where they had just been. Clay was blind-sided by some rubble and knocked to the ground while Kana barely avoided more hits from it. She quickly turned around. She felt it. Her whole left side was covered in cuts and gashes. Blood was dripping down her arm and off her face. “Shit.” 

She rushed around to where Clay was just barely getting up. He was moving incredibly slow. Kana let out a scream, afraid he was going to be killed as the Titan readied a kick for him. As the Females foot descended towards him, he flipped up and spun in the air, cutting out the back of her ankle. 

She dropped down to one knee and Clay shouted, “I think we should withdraw now!” 

Kana nodded and they both ran back towards the formation. It wasn’t long before the found the center flanks and the spare horses. They each hopped up on one. Kana was panting heavily and could barely see straight. "Go… back to… Tsuki and… Leah… help protect… them…” 

She saw that he was pretty badly hurt as well but he nodded, wiping the blood off his face. “Don’t die. Got it?” 

“You either.” Kana snickered, watching him run on ahead, flying around the other horses.


	29. Baited

Kana kept pushing her horse and herself, despite the growing weakness in her left side. When she held her reins up, she saw the insides of her forearms growing bright red. The brighter it glowed, the stronger she felt. A black mist trickled off from the glowing marks and drifted into the air, forming into a ball in her lap. 

It solidified into a familiar form that was Mizuki. She said, “That was pathetic.” 

Kana’s eyes widened. “Mizuki…?” 

“Who’d you expect?” 

“I was wondering where you’d gone…” 

 

Leah shrieked with happiness. “Clay! You’re back! Holy crap, that Titan got you good.” 

Tsuki looked at him as well. “You’d get rid of it?” 

“No. Fighting an intelligent Titan is unlike anything I’ve ever done before.” Clay stated. “I don’t think we could even take that thing down together. It had Kana and I on the defense the whole time. I got one hit in so we could get the fuck out of there, but that’s it.” 

“So it’s intelligent!?” Tsuki gasped. “What does that mean? It’s like Eren? Some human has betrayed us and is fighting us?! WHY!?” 

Clay shrugged. “I don’t know.” He answered sadly, his gaze ahead. “Guess they have their reasons.” 

 

Eren was looking to the sky on their right side. “There hasn’t been any more flares sent up. Do you think they got rid of the Titan?” 

“I would hope so.” Oluo retorted. 

“It was already deep in our formation when the first of the flares went up. Surely someone was able to take it out by now.” Levi stated, not evening looking back. “Now hush up and pay attention.” 

“Yessir.” Eren agreed, unable to help himself from looking back over again. His eyes widened when he saw a horse flying towards them, way out of formation. “What is that?” 

All of a sudden, Kana and her horse, flew right through the middle of their squad and slowed until she was running in pace with Eren. His eyes were wide. “K-Kana… what happened to you?” 

“We’ve got our hands full.” Kana stated. She glared at Mizuki who was climbing on the front of her shirt. Kana leaned forward and tied her horse’s reins to Eren’s. She happened to glance up, seeing Levi staring at her with wide eyes. 

“What’s going on?” Eren asked. “I saw you flying towards that black smoke earlier. Was the Titan stopped?” 

“No.” Kana answered hoarsely. “The best we could do was get everyone else out of the line of fire.” 

“That explains why there’s no more smoke rounds going up.” Gunther stated. “But why can’t anyone take the Titan down?” 

“It’s intelligent.” Kana explained. “Clay and I fought it for about ten minutes… We couldn’t catch our breath. We didn’t even know what we were doing. It took everything we had every second just to not die.” She gritted her teeth. “I hope the Commander has a plan.” 

“What are you doing here?” Eldo asked. “What about your squad?” 

“They’re up on the front lines. I was told to hold back and stay with Eren. I was told to protect him at all costs.” Kana explained. 

Levi’s grip on the reins tightened and he gritted his teeth. “Of course you were…” 

Eren looked at Kana curiously and asked, “So what are we going to do about it?” 

Kana looked ahead and at Levi. “We hope the Commander has a plan to deal with it.” 

Shortly later, another person a horse slowed down to relay the message that the center file was to go straight into the forest, the rest of the formation was to circle around. Kana narrowed her eyes. It would make sense to no one but her. Plan A was for her to kill the Titan. She looked over her shoulder, wiping some blood off her face. Why was the Commander so determined for her to be the one to stop it? 

While riding on the horse, she was adjusting her belts so that Mizuki could stay attached to her. Eren, who’d been watching her, commented, “You’ve lost a lot of blood, Kana.” 

“I’m fine.” Kana stated, glaring when Mizuki resisted getting pulled into the belts. 

Eren added, “What are those red lines on your face?” 

“Hm? They’re on my face, too?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve noticed them coming and going recently.” 

It wasn’t much longer that they crossed into the forest full of giant trees. It was perfect Titan hunting territory. If Erwin was setting her up to bring the Female down, this would be how she’d want to do it. She felt a shiver of fear down her spine. But could she really do it? And now she had Mizuki to look after. 

Eren shouted up to Levi, “Captain…?!” 

“What?” Levi snapped. 

Eren narrowed his eyes and asked, “What do you mean, what? We’re in the forest for crying out loud! There is no way we can detect the enemy if we’re the only file in the formation to enter the forest! And I think I saw something approaching from the right to boot…” Eren took a breath. “How are we supposed to avoid Titans and protect the carts under these circumstances?” 

“Stop stating the obvious I that obnoxious screech, will ya?” Levi demanded. “It’s clear as day we can’t do any of that anymore.” 

“But why!?” 

“Take a good look around already. These damn huge-ass trees are the best location you can wish for when maxing out the maneuver gears performance. Now do me a favor. Put that dumb head of yours to use. Make sure to do your damnest and rack your brains hard as you can if you don’t wanna die.” 

Eren started looking around. “Wait…” 

Kana looked at Eren. “What’s wrong? You don’t think anyone knows what’s going on?” 

Petra looked back at her and asked, “You act like you do?” 

Kana smirked. “I wouldn’t say that I know…” 

“She was given special orders. If anyone would know what was going on, she would. But the most we can do is follow our own orders.” Levi stated with finality. 

“Yes sir….” Petra whispered. 

There was a loud noise that rocked from behind them. For the first time since leaving that morning, Kana felt her blood run cold. She had just remembered Leah’s sickness. Someone on this team was going to die. Her hands trembled. 

If she wanted to prevent that… 

Then she had no choice but to stop the Titan. 

Eldo looked back and asked, “What was that noise coming from? Something is coming up behind us…” 

Kana narrowed her eyes. “Looks like that’s my cue.” She hopped to her feet in her saddle and looked back, just as the giant Female appeared, throwing a helpless victim to the ground. When it’s eye locked on Eren, it widened with recognition and began to run faster. 

Gunther shouted, “Oh shit! There’s no way we can avoid it in advance inside the forest!” 

Eldo added, “It’s so fast! It’s catching up to us!” 

Kana stood on the back of her horse, her other foot on the back of Eren’s horse. 

Petra shrieked, “What are you doing!? Are you insane!?” She then turned to Levi and shouted, “Then all of us need to switch to maneuver gear!” 

Kana yelled at her. “You’re supposed to follow your orders! I’m following mine!” 

Before anyone else could say or do anything, a couple more soldiers from the squad behind them were circling the Female. Petra gasped, “They’re backing us up!” 

They didn’t stand a chance. In less than two seconds, they were both smashed against the trees. Watching them die triggered the rest of the squad to beg Levi to give them the signal to fight the Titan. After listening to it for a minute, Levi told them to cover their ears and he fired off a sound grenade. Levi demanded, “Men, what’s your mission again? Was it to lose yourselves to your raging emotions? That’s not what your orders were, now is it? The duty this squad was assigned to is to do our damnest to make sure this pisspoor brat won’t get a single scratch on him. Even if it costs our lives.” When all of them straightened up and stopped protesting, Levi added, “We’re going to keep advancing on horses. Is that clear?” 

They all agreed, but Kana held her grip on her swords. She shied one glance back at Levi. He was watching her as he spoke and she, if no one else, could see how hard this decision was on him. He didn’t want to make the call, but he had other lives to worry about. 

Kana jumped off the back of the horses. 

Eren screamed at her, “What are you doing!?” 

“Following my orders.” Kana flew up into the air, flipping towards the Titan, shouting back at him, “My orders were to kill this Titan or at least slow it down!” She rebounded off the trees and towards the Females face but when she swung her arm, Kana narrowly avoided it by hooking into her shin. She reeled herself in and slid along the ground until she came back around on the back side. 

She got one cut on the back of her leg, but she spun, kicking towards her. Kana attached herself to her leg and was able to roll out of the line of fire of the trees. 

Eren turned back to Levi and yelled, “We can’t let her fight alone!” 

Levi’s grip was so tight on the reins, his knuckles turned white. “We have to follow our orders.” 

“If we fight now, we might be able to stop it!” Eren yelled. 

Gunther ordered him, “Eren, just look straight ahead!” 

Kana flipped around, avoiding another arm, trying to some skin somewhere, but the Titan was reading her movements too well. 

“But!” Eren yelled. 

“Stop screwing up the pace!” Eldo ordered him. “Maintain your fastest running speed!” 

Eren continued to press. “Who can stop her but this squad!? Why won’t we fight it!?” 

Kana jumped off the Females hand as it came to smack her. The other hand grabbed a hold of her wire and threw her forward, but she caught her other wire on another tree and used it to slingshot herself back. She stabbed one eye, but she was able to reach far enough to the other. She flipped around, snagging herself into the Titan’s hair and pulled herself up. 

Mizuki scolded her, “You’re weak.” 

“Would you shut up?” Kana panted. She had a couple fresh injuries now and her old ones were bothering her more than ever. “I don’t even know why you’re here.” 

Eren was still screaming at them. “We might make it in time! If we don’t help her, she’s going to die! She can’t fight that Titan on her own!” 

Petra ordered, “Eren just look only in front of you and keep moving!” 

“Are you telling me to just close my eyes to the desperate battle happening behind us!? To leave my comrade to her death and run for my life, is that it!?” Eren demanded. 

Petra snapped back, “Yes! That’s precisely what I’m telling you to do! Obey the Captain’s order!” 

“I don’t get why I must let my comrades die! And I also don’t get why you’re not telling me the reason behind your unwillingness to help her! Why!?” 

Oluo chimed in, “Cause the Captain decided it was something he should not explain! That’s why! You don’t get it cause you’re still wet behind the ears! And now that you know this, shut the hell up and obey!” 

Levi felt sick. The longer they ran, and the more he listened to Eren’s shouting, the softer his will grew. Before long, he’d give in. He couldn’t live with himself if he decision to follow orders ended with her death. He just couldn’t… 

He was suddenly aware of Eren trying to bite his thumb when Petra yelled at him. He told him, “Eren. You’re not in the wrong about this. If you want to do it, do it.” Eren looked back at Levi as he spoke, “You’re a real monster. I know that much; and not because of your Titan Power. No matter how much force he’s held down with, no matter how strong the cage he’s placed in, no one will be able to make that spirit submit to their will. The difference in judgement between you and us originates form different rules derived from past experiences. But… you don’t have to rely on a thing like that. Make your choice. Will you trust yourself… or will you trust me, them, and the Survey Corps as a whole? 

“I don’t know which option you should choose. I could never advise you on that… no matter what kind of widom dictates you the option you should pick, no one will be able to tell if its right or wrong till you arrive to some sort of outcome, resulting from your choice. The only thing we’re allowed to do is believe that we won’t regret the choice we made.” 

Levi felt a sickness rising in the pit of his stomach. Could he even believe his own words? Even if the plan was a success. If cost Kana’s life, would he not regret it? Or would he regret it more to let everyone else down…?


	30. Fire

Kana waited until the Titan was reaching up to grab her off the top of her head to flip up and land on her hand. She sank her wire into the Titan’s hand until she lowered it back down to her front. She went to smack her own hand, but Kana jumped out of the way and at the Titan’s face, swinging around and going for the neck, but she put her hand up to block it and it crystalized into a hardness that broke her blades. 

Kana’s eyes widened. “Shit.” 

The Female wrapped her hand around Kana’s body suddenly and threw her. Kana resisted a scream as she flew through the air and landed along the ground just before her and Eren’s horse. 

Eren gasped and moved the horses around so they wouldn’t trample her. He opened his mouth to shout her name, but it wasn’t his voice that came out. He looked back ahead and saw that Levi was turned around in his saddle, his eyes wide with fear. He was the one that had screamed her name. Then he realized it. This team wasn’t unfeeling. They understood what they were having to give up to follow orders. The weight of the lost lives lingered on them as well. 

Eren shouted, “I’ll move forward! I swear! I’ll press onward as a team!” Just then he heard a wailing noise and looked back. 

When the Titan had gone to pass where Kana’s body was on the ground, she jumped up, slicing both of the insides of the Titan’s ankles. It fell to its knees and struggled to get back up slowly. 

Levi ordered his squad, “Do not slow down!” He suddenly switched to his gear and flew back to where the Titan was slowly getting up. 

Oluo grumbled. “Hypocrite.” 

Levi swung around between the Titan’s feet where Kana was slowly sitting up. In one swift move, he had his arm around her waist, spun in the air and headed quickly back to the horses. He set her carefully down on her own horse and asked, “Kana, are you still with us?” 

Kana laughed humorlessly. “I gotta thank Clay for showing me that move.” 

Levi relaxed and jumped back to his horse. “I think that bought us the time we needed.” 

Just as the words left his mouth, they passed a small clearing. The Female Titan was catching back up and gaining ground. As she got back near them, thousands of spears were fired, sinking into the Titan’s body, pinning her in place. 

Through the smoke, she heard her name shouted from the tops of the trees. Kana smiled, recognized Tsuki’s voice immediately. Once they were free of the smoke, Levi ordered, “Tether the horses up ahead, then switch to the maneuver gear. This time I”ll be taking action separately from the rest of you. I’m leaving Eldo in command. Keep a safe distance away from that Titan and hide Eren. Take care of my horse. Is that clear?” He was already switching to his gear and flying back up to the tops of the trees. 

Eren’s eyes widened. “You guys… are capturing the Titan alive?” 

“What do you think now, Eren!?” Gunther asked. 

“We’ve caught that Titan alive!” Petra added. 

Oluo added, “This is the power of the Survey Corps! Don’t ever underestimate us, you dumbass!” 

Eren was grinning wildly now. “Yes!” 

Kana was relaxing on her horse. Her whole body was aching. Mizuki growled. “Why won’t you let me play…?” 

Kana closed her eyes. “You don’t have to yet…” Her breathing slowed down. “We haven’t been pushed that far…” 

 

Erwin, Tsukiko, Clay, and Leah were standing on a branch of one of the giant trees when Levi landed beside them. “Seems like she stopped moving.” 

Erwin added, “Yes, but we can’t let our guard down yet. Great job leading her here.” 

Levi looked at him and added, “It’s mostly thanks to the backup squads who gave up their lives and Kana who stalled to buy us enough time. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have made it here.” 

“I see…” Erwin looked down. 

“Yeah, but Kana was such a badass!” Tsuki squealed, dancing in place. “And now we’ve caught us a Titan!!!” 

Clay glared at her. “She stole that last move from me.” 

Leah looked over at Levi and asked, “Hey, uh… where did your squad go?” 

Levi arched a brow. “They’re hiding Eren. Why?” 

Erwin looked at Leah suspiciously. Tsuki leaned down to Leah and asked, “Is your stomach still bothering you?” 

When Leah nodded, Clay shouted, “But we caught the Titan!” 

Leah’s hands clenched. “Then the danger isn’t gone yet.” 

“What are you guys going on about?” Erwin demanded. 

Tsuki put her hand on Leah’s shoulder. “Oh… it’s nothing.” She whispered to Leah alone, “Kana is still with them. They’ll be safe.” 

Leah’s hand was trembling. “It’s getting worse.” 

Levi walked out to the end of the branch. “But it’s thanks to those that gave their lives… that we have this opportunity to meet the person hiding in the nape of her neck. I hope that person won’t piss themselves in the process though.” 

 

Kana was laying down on her branch, listening to Eren rambling to the other members of the squad. “…but to think that even you seniors who’ve been with the Corps for a long time were left out of the loop…” 

“Oh shut up.” Oluo ordered. 

Petra snapped at him, “You want to say that Commander and Captain don’t trust us? Is that it!?” 

“That’s what it looks like, you know!” Eren yelled. 

“Petra… knock out a couple of his front teeth. And replace them with his back ones.” Oluo ordered. 

Eldo spoke up. “Still, you can’t set a trap like that effectively unless a certain number of peple are told in advance about it. So the soldiers who knew about the plan were probably… only the survivors from five years ago.” 

Oluo pointed at Kana. “Then why did she?” 

Kana sighed. “I didn’t know about the plan. I was given separate orders by the Commander himself.” 

He put his hands on his hips. “Then I’m sure that’s how things really are. Get it, Eren?” 

Petra agreed, “Yeah if that’s the deal, nothing we can do about it. They assume that the spy infiltrate dour lands five years ago, at the same time when the wall was breached. That was the condition Commander used to screen suspects.” 

“Five years ago? Could that spy really…” Eren mumbled. 

“Could it be the same person who killed Sonny and Bean?” Eldo asked. “The Titan experiments?” 

Petra jumped, “Ah, the time the Commander actually asked me the same question.” 

Eren’s eyes widened. “So that’s what the question was about…” 

“If we had been able to answer that question, we would have been let in on the real plan. I seriously doubt there was someone that could, though.” 

“I did…” Kana commented. 

“That’s why you got the special orders then.” Petra stated. 

“Maybe…” Kana murmured. 

 

Mike and Levi dropped down from the tops of the trees, trying to cut the Titan’s hands off, but the solidified so it did no good. 

Erwin then called over another soldier and ordered him to blow off the targets hands without killing the person inside. 

Levi landed on the Titan’s head and scowled, “Hey, why don’t you just get outta there already? We have better things to do than this, you know? Say, what d’you think is gonna come next? You really believe you can escape from us? I’d really like you to put yourself in our shoes for a moment and think how much trouble you’re causing us. We have to come up with a way to drag you out and keep repeating our attempts time and time again. You have killed a lot of my subordinates in various ways, haven’t you? Was it fun? I personally am having fun right now. And you’re just like me, aren’t ya? You of all people would understand me, that’s what I think, y’know?” 

Tsuki shivered. “The Captain can be scary when he wants to be.” 

“Psychological warfare.” Clay stated. “He’ll scare the bitch out if we can’t get her out by force.” 

“Oh yeah. There was something I wanted to ask.” Levi stated. “If your hands and feet are cut off, you will still be alright, right? They’ll just grow back, right? I mean your real hands and feet. Cause your dying on us just won’t do.” 

Suddenly the Female shifted and every looked up in time to see her start screaming frantically. It lasted for several minutes before coming to a stop. 

Levi glared. “You bitch. You really startled me there…” 

Everyone was uneasy for a bit until Mike rushed over to Erwin. “It smells bad.” 

Erwin demanded, “What direction?” 

“Every direction! It’s getting stronger!” Mike shouted. 

It was then that they understood. 

Tsuki, Clay, and Leah all rose to their feet as massive amounts of Titans started charging for the Female Titan. Erwin began ordering the squads to intercept the Titans but they were completely ignored. The Titans went only for the Female. 

Levi stomped on the Female’s head. “You fucking did something afterall didn’t you?” He glared up as the Titan’s closed in on him. In a split second, he killed off the two closest Titans. But a little one kept going. It reached the Female and began to eat her. 

Clay, Tsuki, and Leah all jumped in the fray as everyone flew down, desperately trying to keep the Titans from eating the Female, but nothing could prevent them. There were just too many. 

Erwin called for a full retreat and they all started jumping back. Levi landed beside him, “What a mess… and right after my taunting words, too… Havoc all around and no benefit for us whatsoever. I wonder what they’ll do to Eren and us when we nonchalantly come back after a failure like this…” 

“We’ll think about it after we’ll have returned. At the moment we need to concentrate on returning safely without suffering any more damage.” Erwin told him. 

“I’ll go call my squad. Hope they didn’t get very far from here yet…” Levi stated. 

“Wait. You go refill your gas tank and get new swords.” Erwin ordered. 

“We’re hard pressed for time as it is… I think I can still hold out with what I have left. Why waste any time on resupplying?” 

“It’s an order. Do it.” 

“Fine, understood. I’ll trust your judgment on this one.”


	31. The Wrong Choice

“She really fell asleep like that?” Oluo nudged Kana with his foot.  
Petra pushed him away. “Would you knock it off? She’s probably suffering from bloodloss right now.” She leaned down, looking at her wounds. “She does have some pretty deep injuries…”  
Eren shifted and commented, “Those red lines on her body went away again.”  
“What red lines?” Petra asked.  
Gunther suddenly shouted after watching the sky, “It’s over! We’re going back to where we left our horses! Get ready to retreat!”  
Oluo agreed, “You heard him. Let’s go see for ourselves what kind of face that shithead was riding inside that Titan is making.”  
Petra shook Kana awake. “Come on sweety, we’re moving out.”  
Kana’s eyes opened partially and she whispered, “I want to go home…”  
Petra smiled. “We’re on our way.” She stood back up and held her hand out for Kana to take to get to her feet. Once she did, they all headed off.  
As they flew through the forest, Eren asked, “Did they really manage to extract that person?”  
Petra giggled, “Yes, thanks to you Eren!”  
“I didn’t do anything…”  
“You put your trust in us and that’s plenty!” Petra told him, with a bright smile. “We’ve achieved this result because you chose to believe in us. Making the right choice is always difficult.”  
They all started gossiping and laughing, but Kana didn’t feel well. Something wasn’t settling with her. Mizuki looked up at her from her belt. “That Titan isn’t gone.”  
Kana stared at her a moment and looked ahead, seeing that Gunther was stopping. He was looking up at the smoke signal that went up. “That must be from Captain Levi. Let’s join back up and save your bickering for when we’re back!”  
As they were flying along, a person showed up, coming towards them. Gunther narrowed his eyes, “Is that Captain Levi?”  
Mizuki grumbled, “Titan.”  
Kana gasped and shouted, “GUNTHER, WATCH OUT!”  
The person flew by quickly and by the time Kana got to him, Gunther’s head was hanging uselessly by a flap of skin from his body. She gasped and screamed at the person, “You son of a bitch!”  
Petra grabbed her and pushed her on. “Come on! Our mission is to protect Eren! Don’t stop!”  
Eren was trembling, looking back. “Gunther…!!”  
Oluo yelled, “Eldo! Fuck it all, what are we going to do? Where do we go?”  
“Forget about the horses.” He ordered. “The top priority is to reach our commanders and comrades!”  
“Is that the bastard that was in the female titan?” Oluo asked.  
“Yes.” Kana answered. “That is definitely them.”  
Petra glared back and shouted, “Come out! You have no honor, but I’m still going to give you a fair chance!”  
In the next moment, a bright light erupted behind them and the Female Titan came sprinting at them from behind. Eren yelled, “I’ll fight her this time!”  
Eldo yelled back, “No you won’t!” He looked at Kana. “You take Eren and get to safety, we’ll take care of this damned Titan.”  
Her eyes narrowed. “Y-…Yes sir.” She admitted dejectedly and turned back, grabbing Eren and flying faster through the forest. “Eren, don’t look back!” Kana felt her stomach wrenching. Gunther was dead. Which means that the others should be safe, right? They’d make it, wouldn’t they?  
Eren struggled against her, “I’m going to fight, too!”  
“No! Just believe in them!” Kana shrieked. “You’re mankind’s hope! You have to live!”  
Despite her orders, she couldn’t stop herself from looking back and seeing the rest of Squad Levi engage the Female.  
At first, they were doing great. In just the first minute, they had cut out both of the Titan’s eyes. Without sharing words, they all went in and started chopping at her shoulders. She had covered her weak spot. The only way they could get through would be to slice her off at the shoulders. After many agonizing seconds, her arms dropped.  
“See, Eren? They’re fine.” Kana told him.  
“No one ever knows how things will turn out.”  
As though on cue, both of them looked back as Eldo went in to slice the Titan’s neck. But her eye regenerated just in time, she turned her head, and bit Eldo clean in half.  
Eren let out a scream and struggled against Kana again. She gritted her teeth. No… what do I do…? My orders are to protect Eren but… She looked back again, as the Female spit out Eldo’s other half and ran at Petra.  
In the next moment, the Female jumped and kicked Petra flat against a tree. This time it was Kana who let out a scream of horror.   
Oluo, while the Female was distracted by Petra, reeled himself in to her neck and raised his blades. He was going to do it! His blades bit into her skin and…  
Shattered.  
The very next moment, the Titan spun around and kicked him in the back, crushing him in midair.  
All of her will left her and she released Eren who screamed at the top of his lungs, “I WILL SLAY HER!!!”  
He jumped towards the Female Titan, sinking his teeth into his hand. Mizuki looked up at Kana, her eyes wide but with determination and malice.  
“Now is it time to play?”  
Kana spun around in midair, her eyes glowing a blood red and the lines on her skin were glowing as bright as the sun. “Now, Mizuki.”  
In the very next moment, Eren had turned into a Titan and was rushing towards the Female at full speed. Kana landed on his shoulder, two long black blades with red lines were in her hands. However her hands had also melded and become black like the metal of the swords.  
She leaned her elbow against Eren’s ear and hissed, “We’re going to murder her and pay her back for what she’s done, Eren.” In response, Eren let out a huge roar for the entire forest to hear.

“What was that noise?” Tsuki asked. She, Leah, and Clay were helping to load up bodies in the carts.  
Mikasa jumped off the cart, her eyes wide on the forest. “That was Eren…!”  
Clay narrowed his eyes. “Why did he turn into a Titan?”  
“Then the Commander was right.” Tsuki stated. “The Female Titan came back.”  
“We have to help him!” Mikasa shouted, running in.  
“Mikasa!” Clay yelled. He looked back at Tsuki and Leah. “I’m going to back her up. You two stay here and help guard everyone else.”  
“Got it!” They agreed, watching Clay and Mikasa take off.

Levi’s eyes widened when he heard the Titan roar through the forest. He immediately changed course to follow the sound. Shit… Am I too late…?

Eren was punching at the Female Titan, but both punches had too much power and missed. He’d broken both of his arms. Kana cursed and jumped down. Because she was laying down, her swords couldn’t get to the nape of her neck. But she could chop up what she could.   
She brought her swords down to cut her other eye out again, but she twisted her head away and her blades cut the side of her head. “Dammit…”  
The Female turned her head to bite her, but Kana spun and sliced open her upper lip and moved out of the way. Just as she did, the other eye regenerated and the Female reached up, grabbing Eren and flipping him over.  
Kana used her maneuver gear to get out of the way just in time as they started rolling around. “I need a clear shot, Eren…”  
After a few minutes of tumbling Titans, the Female kicked Eren off and into a tree and she slowly got up. Kana’s eyes widened. She was so focused on Eren she had her back to her. Kana flew in immediately, hooking to the back of her neck. As she closed in, the Female put her hand up to protect her neck.  
Kana watched at it solidified. She swung her swords and to even her surprise, they cut right through the solidified skin, but she didn’t have enough force behind the swings to connect with the skin underneath. “Shit.” Before she could do anything, she flew right into the Females other hand and it wrapped around her.  
Eren roared and grabbed the Female’s arm, trying to squeeze it and break her hold before Kana was crushed. Kana felt the pressure wrapping around her body. Her breathing slowed and she turned her head where it was stuck out from between her index and middle fingers. She saw the demon smirk and in the next moment squeezed.  
For one instant there was an indiscernible amount of pain and the next…  
Nothing.


	32. Fallen

Eren had bitten through the Female’s arm and he watched it fall to the ground. But it was too late. The useless hand let go of the girl, but her broken body tumbled to the ground. Sheer rage consumed him as he went back to fighting the Female Titan with renewed furvor. 

 

“Mikasa slow down!” Clay told her. “If Eren has transformed, we’re both useless, we can’t interfere in a battle between two Titans!” 

Mikasa shook her head. “I won’t lose the last of my family!” 

“Eren is strong! You won’t lose your family! Think about your own life for once, Mikasa!” Clay ordered her, desperately trying to get her to change her mind. 

“Without me, he’ll die.” Mikasa told him. 

Even as they argued, they flew in on the scene of the Female biting out the neck of Eren’s Titan. Clay’s eyes widened. “Shit.” 

Mikasa screamed and flew towards them. “No!” 

Clay grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Stop!” He ordered, his arms around her. “You have to slow down and think this through. We have to be strategic about this – “ He gasped when Mikasa slammed an elbow into his gut and flew around him towards the Female. “MIKASA!” 

 

Levi gritted his teeth when he flew by Gunther, hanging lifelessly from his own gear. And his fists clenched tightly when he hovered over what was left of Eldo’s body in the grass. His hatred only grew when he found Oluo dead in front of a tree and a few down, Petra’s body was contorted against a tree from where she had been stomped to death. 

He dropped from his maneuver gear and walked slowly forward. He couldn’t will himself to identify the body he saw a hundred or so yards ahead of him. The arm of the Female Titan had been dismembered and left on the ground. It was halfway to nothing but a skeleton; which meant this incident had occurred only a few minutes before his arrival. 

He really had been too late. His entire squad had been wiped out as well as… 

His legs trembled underneath him and he dropped to his knees beside her body. She was covered in blood and her hair was matted into her face. She was barely recognizable except for the black hair and dead red eyes. “Kana…” His voice cracked and he couldn’t hold his emotions back any longer. 

He’d never suffered a blow this bad before. He gently picked up her body and held it against him. He hated the thought of being covered in blood, but he didn’t care this time. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything. More soldiers might be losing their lives while he wasted his time dreading the loss; but he just couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“I should have known better than to trust you. You lied… Kana…” His hands clenched on the back of her shirt and he pressed his face to her neck as the tears started to fall from his eyes. “You lied.” 

There was the softest, faintest sound and his eyes widened. 

“…h…have….not…” 

He withdrew his head and stared at her. There was no change in her. Her eyes were still lifeless, but he knew that he had heard her voice. Was he hallucinating? Was he so damaged that he was choosing to believe he was hearing her tender voice once more? 

“…Need…a minute…” 

No, he wasn’t crazy. Her lips moved in the slightest to form words. This broken, lifeless body was still speaking. He leaned in again and pressed his ear to her chest. Sure enough, her heart was still beating. Now he felt like crying out of sheer happiness. “How… can you still be alive? Your entire body has been crushed.” 

“…long…story…over…dinner?” 

Levi glared at her and demanded, “Are you asking me to dinner right now…?” 

“…kinda…” 

Levi sighed and shifted, looking away. “You already know what my answer is, brat.” 

“Good…” 

He jumped a bit when a mist rolled off her body and formed into Mizuki beside of him. He started at her questioningly. She wiped the sweat off her brow and said, “I can answer some basic questions right now.” 

“You can…?” 

“Okay, the most basic answer to start with is: Why is Kana still alive after being crushed by a Titan? Easy: that’s because she’s a genetically altered human.” 

“Huh?” 

Mizuki sat down and crossed her legs. “Okay, let me start from the beginning, she – “ 

Levi stood up, Kana still in his arms. “No offense, brat, but we’re pinched for time. You’re telling me Kana is alive and will stay alive?” 

Mizuki nodded, getting back up as well. “She needs time for her body to heal, but it will.” 

“Fine. Then we need to find Eren and get back within the walls. Then we’ll discuss the rest of this.” Levi explained. He started connecting the belts of his gear to Kana’s gear so that he wouldn’t have to worry about dropping her. Once she was secured on his back, he looked down at Mizuki and held his hand out. “Come on, let’s go.” 

Mizuki shook her head. “That’s much too inefficient.” She turned back into a mist and floated up to Kana, disappearing into her skin. The red lines glowed for a moment before fading back out. 

Levi sighed. “A lot to explain…” He took off as soon as he could, still heading for the direction of the screaming Titan. 

 

Mikasa was swinging around circles around the Female Titan, cutting at whatever skin she could. When she circled back around again, Clay caught her and pulled her back, landing on a branch. “You’re just wasting your energy. You’re cutting up the Titan anywhere you can and it won’t do any good if you don’t deal a blow that will slow her down.” 

“At this rate, she’ll get away!” Mikasa yelled at him. When Clay just stared at her, she felt her heart thundering in her chest. She sighed, her eyes watering. “I’m sorry… I just… He’s all that’s left of my family. I know that you’re right…” 

“If you trust me… I swear to you I won’t let her escape with Eren.” Clay told her. 

Mikasa gasped and gripped his shirt. “No. It’s one thing if I put myself in danger… but… you don’t have to as well. I don’t want you to do that.” 

“We stand a better chance together than alone.” Clay told her and cupped her cheek. “Now. Stop that crying, okay?” 

Mikasa nodded and looked back towards the Female. Less wildly this time, they both followed after the Titan. They both aimed their attacks at the Titan’s legs now. Several times the Female stumbled, but she refused to just stay down. Finally, Clay landed a cut deep enough that she dropped to her knees. 

Mikasa swung in and went for her neck, but her skin solidified again and it broke her blades. Mikasa gasped, “What!?” She landed against a tree and yelled at Clay, “My weapons can’t break her skin!” 

Clay landed beside her and glared. “I don’t know what we should do then…” He gasped when she swung around, punching where they were. He grabbed Mikasa and narrowly got her out of reach in time. 

Before they could move in again, they both heard, “Stop! Fall back for now!” 

They landed on the same branch as Levi. Clay stared at him in shock, “Is that… Kana?” 

Mikasa clenched her hands into fists. Levi answered, “Yes. She barely survived; who knows how.” 

Clay’s eyes narrowed for a moment but Levi spoke again, “We’ll follow her, keeping our distance for now. Her speed has dropped significantly so she must be worn out.” As they flew after the Titan, he asked, “The whole nape area of Eren’s Titan form was bitten out. Is he dead?” 

Mikasa just glared at him so Clay answered, “No, he’s still alive. Since the target is intelligent, its safe to assume her objective was to capture Eren since she didn’t crush him outright. He being held in her mouth.” 

“Then maybe she was trying to devour Eren all along. In that case, he’s in her stomach right now… which pretty much means he’s dead.” Levi commented. 

“He’s alive!” Mikasa argued. “Had you performed your duty to protect Eren properly, this wouldn’t have happened.” 

Levi looked back at her. “You’re Eren’s childhood friend who was present at the trial, right?” Already knowing the answer, he looked back ahead, but there was no mistaking the overwhelming sadness in his eyes as he looked forward. “We’re going to have to narrow down the list of our objectives to only one. And first of all… we need to give up on taking this Titan down right now.” 

“But… all the people she’s killed…” Clay commented. 

“Because of her ability to harden her skin, she’s impossible to slay. Trust me.” Levi told them. “We’ll bet everything on the possibility that Eren is still alive and rescue him before she has a chance to get out of the forest.” He gripped his swords and ordered, “You distract her… and I’ll cut her up.” 

Clay and Mikasa swung down, dancing in air in front of her legs, acting like they were going for them, causing her to focus primarily on them. 

Levi swung around from behind, whispering, “Brace yourself, Kana. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” 

She smirked slightly. “I think I can handle myself.” 

“You’re talking better…” He couldn’t help smirking as well, but then focused back on the Titan. The same devil Titan that had murdered his entire team. 

As he readied for attack, she spun and threw a fist directly at him. Levi spun suddenly, cutting up all the way down her arm and flipped around, up into her face. He stabbed both of his swords deep into her eyes and pulled immediately back. He left his blades in her eyes so that they wouldn’t be able to heal as quickly. 

He didn’t hesitate. In the next few seconds, he had cut all the way down her body from head to toe. The great Titan collapsed and fell against the tree, but she was still protecting her neck. In just a few more seconds, he had her arms collapsed. 

Clay noticed that Mikasa was watching the Female’s neck. He gasped when she took off suddenly, going to strike at her neck. “Mikasa! Stop!” 

As Mikasa honed in on the neck, the Titan raised her fist up, ready to crush Mikasa. Levi barely made it in time, to push her out of the way, but Kana heard the sick sound of crushing bone where the Female’s fist met with Levi’s leg. 

Mikasa fell through the air, but Clay swung around and caught her before she hit the ground. “Mikasa, are you alright?” 

“Y-yeah…” She whispered. 

Despite the broken leg, Levi spun, cutting on through the Females mouth. Her lower jaw dropped, revealing Eren. Levi shouted at Clay, “Get Eren so we can get out of here!” He ordered. 

Clay set Mikasa down and jumped up, picking up Eren and landing back down next to Mikasa. “We got him.” 

Reluctantly, Mikasa got up and followed the rest of them out of the forest, withdrawing and leaving the Female alive.


	33. Superhuman

Kana leaned over the side of the carriage. She had slight function in parts of her body, but not enough to consider herself back together yet. She was watching Levi and Erwin scan over the troops, surveying their losses. 

When they passed by her, Erwin glanced at her, but said nothing and kept walking. Levi stopped and asked, “How are you feeling?” 

“I can almost move my toes…” Kana stated. Her eyes swept over all of the bodies being stacked on the rest of the carts. “But enough about me, how are you holding up?” 

Levi’s hand clenched on his leg but he said, “I’m fine. Just sore.” 

“I’m not talking about the leg.” Kana told him. 

Levi hesitated. A shadow of gloom washed over his face and he walked on. “I’ll be fine.” 

Kana sighed and leaned back inside the cart, her back propped up against the wooden edge. Tsuki leaned towards her. “Ready to talk yet?” 

Kana looked straight behind her. “About what?” 

“Were you crushed or what? If so, how did you live?” Tsuki pressed. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Kana scoffed, looking away. “I took a bad fall.” 

“Then how are you healing so fast?” Clay asked suspiciously. 

Kana looked back at him, her red eyes searching his expression before she relaxed. “Would you guys lay off? I have a lot on my mind…” 

They respected her wishes and remained quiet until the carriages started off. Nonchalantly, Levi had hopped into the cart with them. As soon as he joined, all of them straightened up like children in the presence of a teacher. 

Kana stared at him, a bit shocked at first. She realized that his presence alone, it seemed, soothed and relaxed her. Just knowing that he was there was enough to make her feel safe. 

 

Kana hurriedly opened the door after hearing the knock – a little too anxious to welcome her visitor. Again, Levi was wearing a dark colored suit instead of his normal Survey Corps attire. There was a rare warm smile on his lips as he commented, “You’re already up and around again.” 

Kana nodded, stepping back to let him in. “I was mostly back to myself last night, but this morning I’ve been feeling great.” 

“Well that’s good to hear.” Levi stated, walking in. Although he tried his best to hide it, Kana could see that his leg was still hurting him pretty bad. 

She trotted ahead of him and pulled out a chair at the table for him. He glared at her and ordered, “Don’t baby me just because I don’t heal as fast as you do.” 

Kana glared right back. “Don’t act so bitter just cause I’m being nice. I could hit you with the chair if you prefer.” 

He continued to hold his glare before relaxing and smirking, “Good to see you haven’t lost your edge, brat.” After a short pause, he added, “Now… about the seriousness…” 

Mizuki jumped onto the table between them and cheered, “Story time!” 

Kana crossed her arms and sighed. “Where do I begin…” 

“Start with how you’re still breathing.” Levi ordered coolly. 

“Okay…Well.” For a long moment, Kana thought of how to word what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t come up with any simple answer. “Do you know the folk tales about the race of superhumans?” 

“Eh?” Levi questioned. “You mean the crazy one where there’s a race of people bred to protect the human race from all harm?” 

Kana nodded. “It’s not as… folk-y as everyone thinks. Our own origins are as unfamiliar to us as the origins of the Titans. Perhaps we both came from the same place, who knows? But… ‘we’ – as in the superhumans, known as Slayers – have been around for much longer. We were blessed with powers even we can’t explain. Although we each have individual powers, we share a commonality.” 

“Which is?” Levi asked, arching a brow. 

“They can’t die.” Mizuki stated. “Although they age like humans, they can’t be killed until they reach their expiration date. They also all have the distinct lines across their skin – which is the main identifier for the race. The lines glow more brightly the more power they use.” 

Levi shifted and crossed his arms, but didn’t say anything. Kana added, “The immortality is the main reason we’re such an asset as well as our trademark adaptability.” When he gave her a curious look, she explained, “We’re designed to be reborn. Anytime we ‘die’, we’re reborn unsusceptible to what killed us.” 

“Explain.” Levi ordered. 

Mizuki raised her hand. “Once, there was a Slayer who drowned. When she was reborn, she could breathe underwater.” 

“Or, in my case,” Kana added, “Since my body was crushed, the same amount of force again wouldn’t be able to break a single bone in my body. This leads to a lot of distinct abilities among Slayers, but we’re each also born with our own natural talent.” 

“How many of you are there? Do you know other Slayers? What exactly do you mean by natural talent? Or is that an extension of these ‘abilities’?” Levi pressed. 

“Ah.” Kana hesitated. “Most Slayers live in an isolated village. It was determined long ago that we couldn’t survive mingled with Humans in their society. Although we’re still human, we’re considered a subspecies. We thought it better to hide our presence until humanity needed us. Otherwise… I don’t know of any other Slayers. I’ve never met any others personally. But I have my suspicions about… there being a couple more within the walls.” 

“What kind of suspicion?” 

“The natural abilities I was talking about.” Kana went on. “They could be simple things like… endurance or… strength or… something… exceptional like the ability to predict death.” For the longest time, Kana stared at her hands. “If a Titan recognizes a Slayer, they won’t fight it. They fear Slayers because they’re know we’re the stronger species.” 

For a moment, Levi’s eyes remained quizzical before realization washed upon him. “You’re saying… Tsukiko is a Slayer as well?” 

“Most likely. I have no proof, but that’s the only reasonable explanation for why a Titan would go out of its way not to harm her.” Kana explained. “They’re scared of her. Being as they’re stupid creatures, they don’t recognize Slayers until they get a sniff of their power.” 

“And you said you thought there was more than one Slayer?” 

Kana went quiet for some time and Mizuki waved her hand in front of her face. Finally, Kana began again, “As Slayers, we’re more sensitive to elements that Humans can’t comprehend. Life force, time, space, status… these things… we can sense to a small degree. Before we went on the expedition…Leah accurately predicted several deaths before they happened. A woman who was just walking down the street… and… your squad…” 

Levi slammed a fist on the table and stood to his feet. “You knew they were going to die!?” 

“I – “ 

“Why didn’t you speak up!?” 

“How could I have explained all of this then!? Would have seriously believed me!? Do you even believe me now!?” 

“Of course I would have believed you.” Levi stated, his voice suddenly lowered again. When Kana’s eyes widened, he added, “I have no reason to believe you’re lying. I trust you.” 

Kana felt her throat swell up with shame. Her hands clenched and she hid them under the table. Memories of watching the entire team, one by one, killed by the Female Titan flashed behind her eyes and she shook her head. “I’m so sorry… I’m sorry… I could have… I could’ve stopped this all from happening. I was too scared… That if I gave up the truth… I would lose everything. I’ve never felt so happy and safe… I didn’t want to lose it… but because I was selfish… they all died… I’m so… so sorry…” 

She gasped when she felt warm hands on either side of her face. Levi leaned against the table and tipped her head up, brushing the falling tears away with his thumbs. He briskly ordered, “Stop that crying. It doesn’t suit you.” 

“How can I…? I failed everyone.” Kana urged, fresh tears falling. “I screwed up because I was afraid…” 

“You aren’t the only one that failed.” Levi told her. “We got cocky when we thought we had her captured. We thought we’d won before the battle was over. I didn’t react fast enough, nor put the pieces together in time to save my squad or you. I just happened to be lucky your Slayer abilities allowed you to survive. I can assure you, though… this won’t be our last failure. We’ll probably fail many more times. But it doesn’t matter how often we do, as long as we continue to fight until the last battle. That’s the only one we have to win.” 

Kana looked down, barely able to hoarsely whisper, “And we will win that one.” 

Levi smirked. “That’s better. That’s the spirit I’m looking for.” 

“Thank you, Levi.” Kana whispered. “It’s no wonder everyone looks up to you. You’re incredible.” 

He looked away and grumbled. “I can hardly agree with that.” 

Mizuki pulled on the back of Levi’s jacket and asked, “So when do you explain the part about me, Kana?” 

Levi looked over his shoulder at her. “Oh yes, the brat.” 

“Oh…” Kana had to shake herself back into focus. “Well, they’re kind of mysterious as well, but they’re the weapons that the Slayers have to use. It’s because of them that we can activate our abilities.” 

“The trademark red lines are the special nerves in the skin that connect the Slayers to their weapons.” Mizuki went on. “We all connect on a subconscious level, which is why Kana remembered my name when I snuck into the court session. I was secretly talking to her, she just didn’t know it.” 

Levi sat on the table and Kana leaned on his good leg as he asked, “So… if the Slayers are supposed to defend Humanity, why haven’t any of you done anything about the Titans?” 

Kana heaved a heavy sigh. “We’re only extensions of the Human race. Humans have to want to fight for themselves in order for us to fight for them. If Humanity truly shows that they want to win, then we can help. I think that’s part of the reason my parents took off and I ended up in the interior. I think Humanity is truly starting to fight back.” 

“I see.” Levi instinctively ran his hand along Kana’s hair. “So… do you plan on confronting your friends about their Slayer status?” 

“I’ve been thinking about it for some time now. I just don’t know… how I should go about it.” 

“Leah revealed her natural ability. What’s yours?” 

Kana lifted her head. “I don’t know that either. I’ve yet to develop anything unique. I’m just a typical Slayer.” 

Levi glared at her. “You’re anything but typical.” 

Kana blushed and sat up. She let out a yawn about the same time, Mizuki’s mist dissipated back to her arms and her skin glowed. Levi mussed her hair. “It’s late. You should get to sleep.” 

“Uh… yeah.” Kana stepped back while Levi stood back up. 

He suddenly turned back to her with a glare, “You said we’d be talking over dinner. Where’s the food?” 

She gaped and retorted, “You don’t like my cooking!” 

“No, I said it was terrible, not that I didn’t like it.” 

“What’s the difference!?” 

“I’d eat it. If you made it.” 

Kana blushed and glared at him. “Why is it everything you say sounds like a compliment when its not?” 

Levi shrugged and started for the door when Kana grabbed his sleeve. “W-wait…” When Levi stopped and looked at her, she suddenly lost her train of thought and all nerve to say what she wanted left her. Her hand clenched and she whispered, “I-It’s pretty late… You… could stay here… if you wanted.” 

Levi smirked and commented, “We’ll raise suspicion about being involved if someone sees me leave here in the morning.” 

“I- I… I know… I just… the kids prefer when you’re here…” Kana stiffened. Since when did she start using the same out they did? 

Levi’s gaze was warm as he stepped away from the door. “The kids do, huh?” 

“Uh… ah… I do, too…” Kana’s face was red-hot with embarrassment. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to…” 

“I want to.” 

She finally started to relax when he asked, “Do you have an extra blanket and pillow for the couch?” 

“You don’t have to sleep on the couch. Take the bed.” 

When he glared back at her, she stiffened suddenly. “O-Or not. But I insist. It wouldn’t be fair to force you – “ She gasped when he suddenly lifted her up over his shoulder. “Levi! Stop! Doesn’t your leg hurt? You’ll injure it more! Put me down!” She wanted to struggle, but she was worried about hurting him. 

“You’re going to make me put you bed like the little ones, aren’t you?” 

Kana blushed and went limp. “N-No… I’ll be good.” She felt just like a child getting scolded as he carried her to the bedroom. He carefully set her down on the bed and pulled back the blanket for her. She couldn’t help herself from catching his arms, gripping his sleeves, just so she could have some contact. 

Levi looked at her and sighed. “You know…” He gently leaned her back, pulling the blanket up. “…You just finished telling me you’re an immortal. So explain to me why you look scared all the time.” 

“If you tell me why you look sad all the time.” Kana retorted. 

They both just stared at each other for a moment. Kana sat back up a bit and answered, “It’s not my life I’m scared for. So far, my siblings haven’t shown any signs of being Slayers. Which means that maybe they’re not full-blood related. Perhaps they had a different father. If that’s the case… then they could be hurt any time. And several people I have now come to care for… they’re also capable of dying on me. I’m scared to lose anyone…” 

“As am I…” Levi agreed. 

Kana watched him a moment before reaching her hand up and gently touching his cheek. “I’m still sticking to my promise. I’ll always come back, Levi.” 

Before she could even react, he had cupped the back of her head and pulled her suddenly into a kiss. In that brief, wonderful moment, she could feel everything she usually couldn’t see in his eyes. All of the pain and agony he hid on the battlefield so that he could save lives. All the hope he had for a brighter future. All of the desperation to find peace. 

All of the love he had for her. 

Kana pulled back just an inch, but she was too afraid to breathe. She wasn’t sure whether he finally let his guard down, or if she was just getting better at reading his emotions, but it seemed that he was scared. A man who could face the Titans without hesitation was scared of a girl half his size? 

She slowly leaned in and kissed him again. He held her there for the longest time and as much as she didn’t want it to ever end, she pulled back to breathe and tease, “Erwin would be furious if he found out.” 

“It’ll be our secret for now.” Levi told her before sitting up. “Now get some rest, Kana. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a big day.” 

“Do you know something I don’t?” Kana questioned. 

After tucking her in, Levi headed for the door. “No. I may not be a Slayer, but my instinct is sharp… 

…I sense something unpleasant.”


	34. Fox Hunting

Erwin was sitting at his desk, glaring at the paperwork in front of him. His closest captains were in the room with him, waiting for him to speak. Alas, he stated, “The decision hasn’t been made on what will happen to us, nor Eren. For now we’re to keep him in lockdown. Soon, we’ll have to transport him. Most likely, they’ll decide that his usefulness is not worth the danger he imposes.” 

Hanji fanned out her arms. “Surely we can convince them!” 

Erwin sighed, “How do we convince them that we came up with something worth the lives that were lost last week?” 

“We were so close.” Hanji whispered. 

“Unfortunately, they’re not looking for close. All those rat-bastards up top want are results.” Levi commented. “Honestly, we all want results. Unless we get them, we’re not worth the time. Damn…” 

“But we can’t make progress if we don’t keep pushing. We were closer than ever last week. If we had another shot – “ 

“They won’t see it that way.” Erwin told her. “We all want to be hopeful. Unless we come up with some way of suddenly identifying who the Female Titan is… they’ll eliminate Eren and we’ll be starting from scratch.” 

“What do we do, then?” Mike asked. 

“The end of Eren can pretty much guarantee the end of the Survey Corps.” Levi added. 

“Then we have no choice but to figure out the Female Titan’s identity and capture her alive.” Erwin told them. “Anything but will end our hopes – as well as Humanity’s. Now… any suggestions on how we do this?” 

 

Kana hissed at Camden. “Stop running around and hold on to your sisters!” Camden glared up at her, but did as he was told and caught Aya and Itski’s hands, leading them in front of his oldest sister. She was carrying a couple bags of groceries and was having a hard time keeping track of all the kids. But they needed to get outside. They hadn’t been out in so long, she felt bad keeping them caged up like animals. 

“I wanna go play in the park!” Camden shouted. 

“You can later, I need to get back and put this stuff up, okay?” Kana scolded, gasping when she nearly tripped over Itski who pulled away from Camden to run inside a store selling pets. She had been distracted by the kittens in the front window. She fell off balance and stumbled backwards, dropping one of the bags. She panicked until she saw that someone caught in. 

She straightened up. “Oh, thanks Reiner. What are you - “ 

“Look what I caught!” Tsuki teased, picking up Itski and carrying her back to Kana. “Missing a kid?” 

“Thanks guys. What’re you up to?” She asked. 

Reiner frowned. “Everyone is on edge, wondering what’s going to happen to the Survey Corps and Eren. So far, we’re all pretty sure we’re getting shut down. I can’t think of anything that will save us from this jam.” 

Tsuki added, “Which means everyone that died really will have died in vein. The Survey Corps is humanity’s last hope.” 

Kana stared at the ground. She’d been having nightmares all week. Every time she fell asleep, she saw her comrades dying at the hands of the Female Titan. She couldn’t think of anything better than revenge. Her grip on her bag tightened and she looked away. “Surely we’ll find a way out of this.” 

“Yeah. Learn who was in that Female Titan.” Tsuki agreed. “You faced the person in their human form. Didn’t you get even a glance at their face?” 

That’s right. Kana was the only one who remembered seeing the perpetrator. Everyone else was either dead or was Eren who transformed into a Titan and lost bits of memory. Lucky for him, he probably forgot seeing all of them die. Kana gritted her teeth and hoarsely asked, “C-can we not talk about it, please?” 

“Kana, you’ve been on edge since we left that forest. If something is bothering you, you can tell me. Hey – “ Tsuki touched her friend’s shoulder, but Kana ripped away and shouted, 

“Leave me alone!” Breathlessly, she added, “Please.” 

“Kana…” 

“What’s that!?” 

Suddenly, a lot of people are started looking and pointing upwards towards some taller buildings. Kana, Tsuki, and Reiner looked over, shocked to see a large white animal perched on the roof of the church. 

“Is that a dog?” Reiner questioned. 

“No way. It looks bigger than a dog. But whatever it is, how did it get up there?” Tsuki questioned. 

To their surprise, the animal started racing across the rooftops. It let out a deafening howl like something between a wolf’s call and a lion’s roar. When it was as close as it could get, the great beast jumped down into the street. 

It was even bigger than what she first suspected. It was a fox. A fox the size of a small Titan. It’s fur was bristled and it was growling with rage. It’s blue eyes were honed on them. 

Reiner stood in front of Tsuki. “How did a beast like that get inside the walls?” 

“You saw it running.” Tsuki stated. “Do you think it climbed them?” 

“Without anyone seeing?” 

Kana gasped when the fox ran at them. Kana picked up Camden and the kids and jumped out of the way. The bag of groceries was left to the rubble left behind from the fox crashing into the pet store. A mass of animals poured out and Kana kept her body over the kids. She looked down at them and asked, “Are you guys okay?” 

Camden nodded and scooped his sisters up, but his eyes widened when he looked over Kana’s shoulder, “Kana!” 

Kana looked back just as the white wolf went in to bite at her. She put her arm up so its fangs sank into her shoulder and nowhere near the kids. She felt the blood seeping down her arm, her breathing heavy. “Some… animal shouldn’t be able to… break my skin…” She saw the red lines on her shoulder were glowing around the bite, but it wasn’t able to heal with the teeth in the way. 

She tried pushing it back, but got nowhere. Then suddenly, the fox let out a whimper and was lifted into the air and thrown across the street. Kana jumped up, “Thanks Reiner.” 

Reiner was already running back towards it to keep it from hurting anyone else. 

Tsuki squealed, “Don’t hurt it!” 

“Don’t hurt it!?” Kana repeated furiously, picking up her three siblings. “Tsuki. Will you take the kids and get out of here?” 

“No way! You take them and run!” Tsukiko shouted back at her. She gasped and screamed when the fox tackled Reiner, sending him flying down the street. 

“Forget it, we need to get our gear to fight this thing. It’s not some normal animal.” Kana ordered. “I’ll leave them with someone there.” 

Tsuki rushed over to Reiner and helped him to his feet. They got up just in time as the raging fox charged again. It slid to a stop before crashing into the wall this time. But Tsukiko and Reiner were already following Kana back to HQ. It jumped up on the roofs and gave chase. 

After running halfway across the town, they busted through HQ’s main doors, nearly running into Erwin and the Captains. Kana didn’t break pace and kept heading straight for the supply room. Erwin shouted at her, “What is going on!?” 

Tsuki ran by as well, waving an arm. “Sorry, we’re in a rush! We’ll explain later!” 

Mike glared and demanded, “Explain what!?” 

Reiner spun once he was inside and slammed the doors back shut just as there was a heavy thud on the other side. It took all of his strength to keep the doors shut. A loud roaring was pouring in through the cracks in the doors. 

Erwin’s eyes narrowed. “What is on the other side of that door?” 

Reiner shook his head. “I’m not really sure. We just came to get some gear so we can fight it.” 

Kana and Tsuki ran back up a minute later, but when Kana looked at the ground, she saw Mizuki standing there with the other kids, shaking. “Mizuki?” 

Mizuki looked back at her. “It’s not time to play!” 

“What!?” Kana snarled. “I don’t care if you don’t want to, we need a hand!” 

“No! I can’t! I don’t wanna fight it! I won’t play! I won’t I won’t I won’t!” 

Erwin demanded of all of them, “I want to know what is going on this instant. Now.” 

“You wanna know what’s going on? Stand back against the wall.” Kana ordered. Erwin glared at her, clearly not appreciating being ordered but given no answers. 

Levi touched his shoulder. “Just do it, okay?” Reluctantly, the Commander backed up to the walls with everyone else but Reiner. Levi looked at Mizuki who just stood behind Kana, shaking with what looked like fear. She had wanted to fight a Titan before, and had, but whatever was on the other side of this door had her scared out of her mind. What could be scarier than a Titan? 

Kana got ready to charge. “When I tell you, Reiner, open the door.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Reiner answered, flinching when the fox suddenly tackled the doors and he almost let go. 

Kana let out a slow breath and when she closed her eyes for a second, the red lines on her body started to glow again. She opened her eyes and suddenly sprinted down the hall, straight for the door. When she was almost there, she shouted, “Now!” Reiner ducked out of the way and the door flew open. The fox leaped in and Kana flying jump-kicked it right in the muzzle, sending it flying back out of the building and rolling across the street. 

“Kana! Don’t kill it!” Tsuki yelled. She started to run towards the fox when she asked Reiner, “Will you get your gear and help us!?” He nodded and took off while she rushed to the fox’s aid. 

Kana huffed and looked back at the Corps members. “Will one of you look after those kids? Thanks!” She didn’t want to call Levi out in front of all of them, but he needed to stay away from the fighting until his leg was better. That, and he was the only one she trusted her siblings with. 

Everyone but Levi rushed out the doors. Levi sighed and glared down at Mizuki. “Why aren’t you helping her?” 

Mizuki was still quaking. “I don’t fight other weapons.” 

His eyes widened. “That’s a weapon?” He reached down and picked up the girls before ordering Camden, “Come on, squirt. Let’s get you home.” Camden gripped his pant leg and followed while Mizuki just stood, still shaking. 

Kana gasped when she was thrown back into a wall when the fox spun and hit her with its tail. While it was preoccupied with her, Reiner and Tsuki jumped off the roof and swung into a couple of kicks, sending it rolling across the street again. 

The fox engaged Reiner and Tsuki so Kana was going to go assist them when she was stopped. 

“Oi.” Levi grumbled from behind her. “The brat says that fox is a weapon. That true?” 

Kana gasped, looking at Mizuki’s startled expression and looked back at the fox. “If that is true…” She looked at the girls in Levi’s arms and at Camden who was glaring at Mizuki. She ordered, “You need to get them out of here…” She wanted to avoid saying that he, too, would be in the way with his leg in the condition that it was. 

Expressionlessly, Levi said, “Yeah, we’re on our way out.” 

Kana gasped when the fox knocked both Tsuki and Reiner out of its way and charged at them suddenly. It leapt and was about to land on Levi when Kana jumped up, spin kicking it in its chest, sending it flying. When she landed, she realized that Levi hadn’t even flinched. “I didn’t think I had reason to worry.” 

Kana couldn’t help the blush that spread on her cheeks. While she focused on him, she was too late to realize that the fox had suddenly glowed a bright white and split into two separate giant shuriken. They whizzed opposite ways and came around, flying towards Kana from either side. 

She hesitated, debating which way to turn to avoid both of them when her feet were suddenly knocked out from under her. She let out a squeal as she fell over backwards, landing flat on her back. She looked up, seeing Levi standing back up straight from tripping her. After the shuriken both whizzed on by over her head, he looked down at her. “You may be super strong… but your reaction time is poor.” 

Camden started laughing. “You got told.” 

Kana stayed where she was, staring up at the sky. “Yeah, I guess I did.”


	35. Outspoken

Tsuki used her maneuver gear to swing around and kicked the fox off Reiner after it pinned her down. She skidded to a stop beside him and helped him up. “Are you alright?” Tsuki asked worriedly. 

Reiner chuckled. “Yes, I’m fine. You’re so cute when you’re all worried like that.” 

She smacked him but then grabbed his shirt and yanked him forward as the fox took a swipe at them. “What the heck does it want from us!?” 

Reiner pulled her along, running from the giant fox. “Who knows, let’s just get away from it!” 

Tsukiko followed him, but she kept looking back over her shoulder. The beast was so massive that any corner they took, its hindquarters swung around and slammed into a building. Every now and then, it let out a roar again. The echo was loud enough that it caused some buildings to rattle and windows to break. 

“And here I thought Titans were the worst thing we had to worry about!” Reiner complained, pulling Tsuki down another alley. This one was much smaller than the others and sure enough, the fox couldn’t squeeze its way in. 

It jumped up on top of the two buildings and tried reaching down to them. Reiner grumbled. “It’s smart and not climbing in far enough to get stuck. What is this?” 

Tsuki shivered. “I don’t know. Why is a fox attacking us? And how did it even get here?” 

“Who knows?” Reiner looked around. “And I kind of just got us trapped. No matter which way we go, it will kill us…” His hands clenched into fists and his gaze fell on Tsuki’s shivering form. His gaze moved to his own hand. 

If he had to… he could save her… 

But at what cost…? Would she ever look at him the same way? He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He couldn’t stand the thought of her never smiling that warm, wonderful smile again. He didn’t want that smile to be for anyone but him. 

Reluctantly, he whispered to her, “Tsukiko… I think we need to kill it…” 

Tsuki cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Little fox! Why are you attacking us?” 

It growled for a moment before a blue aura formed around it and Tsukiko could hear its voice in her head, “I’m testing you.” 

She gasped. “You can talk?” 

Reiner stared at her in shock. “Tsuki? You can understand it?” 

Tsuki nodded and asked it, “What do you mean you’re testing me?” 

I’m not a simple fox. I’m the spirit which watches over this worlds animals. 

“Why are you testing me?” Tsuki asked again. 

I was ordered to. 

“Why? What am I being tested for?” 

If everything depended on you, do you think you could save the human race? 

“Save the human race?” 

As I am no simple fox, you are no simple human. What if I told you, you had the power to save the entire human race? Would you accept your responsibility? 

“Of course I would!” Tsuki shouted. 

Are you sure? If this is your final answer, then I will become your weapon. 

“I’d do whatever I could to save everyone!” 

Tsukiko gasped as she suddenly felt everything around her moving at high speeds. Everything became a blur and she reached out. “Wait! Fox!? Reiner!? Where are you!?” 

Everything stopped spinning and Tsuki found herself hovering above a village. The village was burning and a terrible monster was tearing everything apart. Tsukiko screamed to the people, but she watched them being eaten alive, ripped apart, and left for dead. There was a woman running out of the village. She had long white hair and a tiny child in her arms. It was the only one she saw get away. 

When the regular world came back to her, Tsukiko let out a scream and started panting. She could feel the sweat dripping down her body. Very quietly, she heard her name. She looked over and saw that Reiner’s wide eyes were on her. But she could have sworn she saw fear in them. He barely whispered, “Your skin…” 

Tsukiko lifted her hands and saw glowing blue lines along her body. She panicked and screamed again. “What is this!? What’s going on?!” She looked back up but the white fox was long gone. Throwing herself to her feet, she started begging. “Why is my skin turning blue? What are these lines? Reiner – “ 

“Tsukiko, are you – “ Reiner grabbed her arm but was cut off when Kana came barreling down the alley. 

She touched her friends shoulder and whispered, “Tsuki, calm down. Come with me. I’ll explain everything to you.” 

“K-Kana, I – “ Tsukiko started but then her eyes widened with realization. “You have red marks, just like these…” 

“Yes. I can explain them to you. But you need to come with me.” Kana’s red eyes turned to Reiner who was glaring at her. She wasn’t sure why the boy suddenly looked at her with such malice, but it was strong enough to make her skin crawl. As she started to pull her friend away, Reiner pulled her back against his chest. 

“Hey. You don’t have to go with her.” Reiner stated. “If you’re scared, you don’t have to do this. You can wait. Some things are better left unsaid.” 

Tsukiko was trembling. “But… I want to know. I’m more scared not knowing.” 

“Tsukiko, listen… what if learning what those mean causes you more trouble?” Reiner asked. 

“I won’t know until I find out.” Tsuki whispered. 

Kana raised her hand. “Reiner, I know you’re trying to protect her, but this is something she needs to know. You wouldn’t understand the severity of the situation…” 

Reiner glared at her and his voice was brisk. “Right.” 

 

Kana and Tsuki were sitting just outside of the house within wall Rose. She hadn’t taken her friend inside because she had a feeling Levi was still inside with the kids. They had spent two hours on the steps discussing what the blue lines meant for her friend. For the first time since she’d known her, Tsuki was quiet. She just sat there staring at her hands. The lines had long since faded off, but from her gaze, you would have thought they were still there. 

Finally, after the longest time, her head fell limp in her arms. “I’m a freak.” 

“No you’re not!” Kana snapped at her, pulling her head up. “You’re a savior. Think of how many lives you’ve saved already. You saved thousands during the first attack on Trost, then again when sealing the gate. And during the expedition! You’re a hero!” 

“You know that no one will see it that way.” Tsuki told her. 

“That may be true, but that’s not how I see it. I’m telling you, you’re a hero. Even if no one sees it. The strongest among us don’t always wear crowns. Even if no one ever sees us… Even if our existence can never be acknowledged, it’s up to us to hold the lights for those in the dark. We have to guide them, save them. We have to bear their burden. Most likely, we’ll die with no reward… without ever be accepted or even thanked. But we can die knowing that we do what’s right and we’ll save lives. We can keep fighting on because the more we fight, the more they live.” Kana watched her friends, gaze, praying she was saying what was right. She remembered when Levi told her that she needed to give her comrades a reason to live rather than a reason to die. 

“Do you really think even we can help these people?” Tsuki asked. 

“I know we can help at the very least. Maybe we can even save them.” Kana answered. 

Her friend smiled back at her. “So does this mean you’ll help me with my new abilities?” 

“Of course.” 

“And you said that Leah is one too?” 

“I think so. I think that’s how she can sense when someone’s going to die.” Kana paused. “And… if a situation ever calls for something drastic, try your hardest not to reveal your powers, at least yet. But there is one person that knows about us. If you ever need help, Captain Levi knows about us.” 

“Why?” Tsuki asked. 

“He saw my condition when the Female Titan crushed me. He knew I was in too bad of a state for any human to live through. I had to tell him.” 

“Okay, guess that helps. One more person on our side.” Tsuki looked up, but her gaze softened into sadness. “But… Reiner was pretty freaked out earlier. He was even mean to you and that’s not like him. I wonder if he never wants to see me again.” 

“I doubt anyone could sanely not want to see you again.” Kana told her. 

Tsuki grinned and said, “Thanks, Kana. Seriously… for everything. It’s hard for me to believe that what you said is true… but… I’ll do what I can.” 

“I’m sure you will.” Kana told her with a smile. She waved her friend goodbye and went inside. It was surprisingly quiet and she went around the corner, into the living room. Her gaze softened when she saw Camden was asleep on the floor, a stack of cards in his little hand. Levi, as well, was passed out on the floor with a little Aya asleep on his back and Itski using his shoulder as pillow. 

Her cheeks flushed with happiness before she, one by one, picked them up and put them to bed. She rattled Levi’s shoulder just the lightest bit and he groaned awake. “You fell asleep.” She told him. 

“Don’t state the obvious.” Levi grumbled. He slowly got up, trying not to use Kana to pull himself up, but did just a little bit. 

“Are you staying here again tonight?” She asked, already heading for the bedroom. 

“Yeah. I need to keep an eye on you. You’re even getting attacked by wild foxes.” He scolded. 

She rolled her eyes. “You’re too overprotective.” 

“And you’re too under-self-sufficient.” 

Kana smacked the back of his head without breaking stride and he stumbled, glaring at her. But both of them shared a smile for just a moment. 

 

Tsuki trudged along back to her home. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets and her gaze was turned downward. Trying not to let it get to her, she distracted herself by thinking of all the good things she could do with her new powers. But her mind kept wandering to Reiner’s reaction. Was she right or wrong? Was he repulsed by her? Would he ever want anything to do with her? 

She gasped when she walked into someone. She backed up quickly and apologized. “I’m so so so-“ Her eyes widened when she looked up into Reiner’s face. “Wh-what are you doing out here?” 

“Looking for you.” Reiner stated. “Wall Rose is quite the trip just to find a place to talk.” 

“That’s where Kana lives.” Tsuki stated. 

“What’d she tell you?” Reiner asked, his gaze sincere and worried. 

“A-A lot.” Tsukiko answered, resting her face against his broad, warm chest. “I don’t want to think about it. I still don’t believe it, honestly. So… let me have a little time, and then I’ll tell you, okay?” 

Reiner gave her a kind smile and tipped her chin up. “Just don’t go getting any wild ideas about fighting Titans by yourself, okay? You still worry me like crazy.” 

“I’ll try not to.” Tsuki answered, closing her eyes. “Will you walk with me back home?” 

“Only if I can stay.” He teased, giving her a brief, gentle kiss. Every single time he kissed her, it made her head spin and she could almost lose herself in an impalpable feeling of happiness. 

With a bright smile, she patted his chest and teased back, “You’ll have to do a lot of sweet talking first.” 

“Oh, alright.” 

He could always do that. He always knew how to cheer her up even when she was feeling scared or down. He could do anything.


	36. The Unseen

Leah was skipping down the street and came to a stop at the stairs in front of Kana’s house. She started up them when the front door opened and she straightened up. She was surprised to see Captain Levi walking out. She saluted him and stayed quiet until he walked on down the street. Leah slipped on in the house and saw Kana sitting at the table, struggling to put Aya in clothes. Leah asked, “Hey Kana, what was Captain Levi doing here so early?” 

“Updates.” Kana answered without even thinking twice. “Speaking of, what are you doing here?” 

“Let’s go see Eren.” Leah suggested. 

Kana sat up and looked at her with shock. “Why with that all of a sudden?” 

“They’re talking about handing him over to the Brigade. If they do that… they’ll just kill him. Are you okay with that?” Leah questioned. 

“Of course not. But being near him didn’t make you sick, did it?” 

“No…” 

“Then we don’t really need to do anything, do we?” 

“That’s not what that means. There’s a chance I don’t get sick until he’s about to die. I just… wanna go talk to him. Unless, maybe you can talk to the superiors about doing something else?” 

“I don’t think I have any weight up top.” Kana stated. 

“Then will you take me to go see him?” 

Kana sighed and smiled. “Alright. No promises they’ll let us in, though.” 

 

“Guard duty, huh?” Leah teased. 

“You’re exceptional at standing there.” Kana joined. “I think you should be a professional.” 

Clay grumbled. “One more crack like that and I’ll knock you both unconscious.” 

“What are you even guarding from?” Kana asked, arching a brow and looking up at HQ. 

“I dunno. Assaults on any personnel’s life?” Clay suggested. 

“So can we go in?” Leah asked. 

“I won’t stop you.” Clay answered, seeing that the guard on the other side of the door was completely ignoring them. 

Leah trotted on up to the door. “Oh nevermind, you even suck at guard duty.” She giggled and went on inside. 

Kana hissed as she went by. “Oooh, ouch. Want some aloe for that burn?” 

“Get inside before I change my mind!” He spat at them. 

Kana and Leah laughed as they went down the hall, looking for the room where Eren was staying. She had no idea what they were looking for. But she found Mike and when they asked him, he pointed them to the door. 

They slipped inside and Leah waved at him. “Good morning Eren!” 

Eren smiled sadly and asked, “Did Armin convince you to come?” 

Leah blushed and shouted, “No! I came cause I wanted to!” 

Eren was sitting at a table and the girls sat across from him. Kana asked, “Any update on your situation?” 

“No. Just that its looking bad.” Eren admitted, looking down. 

“No way!” Leah yelled. “That’s unacceptable. You and Kana were the only two who saw her true form! Surely they understand we need you guys to catch her! She’s so dangerous!” 

Both Eren and Kana exchanged a look before their gaze went down. Very few other people had seen what the Female Titan was capable of. And the two of them were the only ones that could face her. Face her and live anyway. 

“There’s not really anything we can do, Leah. Whatever happens will be meant to happen.” Eren stated. 

“No! I’m not okay with that! There must be a way out! Maybe we can sneak you out!” Leah suggested. 

Kana shushed her suddenly, looking over to see if the guards at the door had heard. If they did, they paid no mind. She scolded, “You can’t just go around saying that kind of stuff!” 

“But…!” Leah looked down sadly. 

Eren tried to force a better smile. “Seriously, Leah, I’m okay.” 

Her hands clenched. “This isn’t fair. Why does the bad stuff always happen to the good guys?” 

Kana’s gaze softened. In the very pit of her stomach, she felt sick. She wanted to help. She wanted to do something. She wanted to take back everything that had happened and save all the lives that were sacrificed. She wanted to go back and kill that Female Titan. If only she knew who it was. 

If only she had some possible way of dragging the bitch out and… 

Kana felt dizzy all of a sudden and she stood up. Eren and Leah both asked, “What’s wrong?” 

Her breathing grew hoarse and her skin pale. Even as it happened, she couldn’t help but think it was eerily similar to what happened to Leah when she sensed someone was going to die. But she had never had something like this happen to her. What was really going on? 

“Kana…” Leah stood up, hands on her friend’s arms. “Hey, take it easy, what’s going on with you?” 

Kana ran her hands over her eyes. They hurt unbelievably much. When she withdrew her hands, she gasped and stumbled backwards. Eren was on fire. Red flames danced around his body, licking at the air around him. She let out a scream and stumbled back. 

“Kana!” They both shouted. 

Leah leaned to her, but she, too was on fire. But hers was a blue colored fire. She pushed Leah back and scrambled away. “Wha-What’s going on!?” 

“What do you mean?” Leah asked. “What do you mean? Nothing is going on, what’s wrong with you?” 

Eren started to ask the same thing when he stopped. “Kana…?” 

“Wh-what?” 

“Your eyes are bleeding.” Eren whispered. 

Kana stopped altogether. She looked down at the palms of her hands. There was blood smeared across them. Another drop fell down to her wrist. Her body started to tremble. She’d been through a lot, but nothing like this. She reached up and gripped her hair, eyes wide. 

What the hell was happening to her? 

 

Kana sat in the infirmary room, a cloth over her right eye. Every time she removed it, the fire reappeared around Leah. Leah was steadily becoming unsettled with her staring in such a way. “Are you gonna be alright, Kana?” 

“I only see the fire with my right eye.” Kana explained. “Why? It’s obviously not there, so why am I seeing it?” She shifted her gaze to her own hand, which also had a blue fire around it when her eye wasn’t covered. 

A doctor came in. “Good news, there’s no damage anywhere on your eye. Bad news is that I have no idea what’s causing the bleeding.” 

“I want a different doctor.” Kana hissed. 

“I’m the only doctor.” He retorted. “I have a student and nurses, but I’m the only professional doctor. Want someone still wet behind the ears to poke around with your eye?” 

Kana glared away. The doctor was not on fire. Why? Why was everyone else? 

 

Erwin was leaned back in his chair, shuffling paperwork when Levi came in. He barely looked up before going on to the next page. “Good morning, Captain.” 

Levi dipped his head. “Commander.” Levi glanced around before looking back at him. “Thought you said this was a meeting for all superiors?” 

“It is. But I told everyone else to come later.” Erwin stated. “I wanted to speak with you personally.” 

“What about?” Levi asked. 

“I had a question.” Erwin sat up and set the papers down. “How does one survive having 80 percent of their body crushed?” 

Oh. That’s what this is about. 

“On top of that.” Erwin continued. “They’re walking around without so much as a limp today. How does that happen?” 

“That’s a good question.” Levi stated, keeping his voice level as to betray no emotion. 

Erwin’s gaze betrayed none either. He turned his chair to the window behind him. “I don’t expect you to answer me. Although I feel you know the answer. I don’t want to know the answer, honestly. She’s on our side and she’s an invaluable asset. She and Eren… I no longer have any doubts about us taking back Wall Maria.” 

“Yes sir.” 

“Both of them are weapons.” Erwin explained. “Weapons aren’t any good unless they’re being used. If Humanity hopes to win, they must use their weapons; that is exactly what I intend to do. To that end, I – “ 

“Sir!” 

Levi and Erwin turned around as Mike walked into the office. He saluted them, “I apologize for barging in, but we have a bit of a… situation.” 

“What kind of situation?” Erwin demanded. 

 

Kana punched the wall. “Okay. You guys are the only ones.” She dropped back down on the bed. “No one else has the fire…or whatever it is.” She paused and her eyes narrowed. “Maybe its not fire. What if its… like an aura.” She winced when her eye started bleeding again. “Shit.” 

“Will you stop messing around and let me wrap it up?” The doctor demanded. 

She snapped back at him. “Why should I let you wrap it up if you can’t even figure out why it’s bleeding!?” 

“Do you just want to let it bleed?” He demanded. 

“I’d like to see!” 

Leah giggled. “Maybe you, Eren, and I are just unique. So we’re pretty colors!” She teased. 

“Oh, we’re all unique alright, we’re – “ Kana froze suddenly. Then it suddenly clicked with her. They were unique. “Leah, you’re a fucking genius!” She bolted to the door, ripping it open and flew right out. 

“Where do you think you’re going in that condition!?” The doctor yelled after her. Leah sprinted around the doctor and after Kana. 

Leah fell in step with her. “What are you doing, Kana?” 

“I need to verify something.” Kana explained. She stopped suddenly when Erwin, Mike, and Levi rounded the corner. 

“Uh-oh.” Leah ducked behind her dark-haired friend. 

“What’s going on?” Erwin asked. “Mike said the two of you visited Eren and something happened?” 

“What’d you do to your eye?” Levi demanded. 

“Look, it’s a really complicated story, I’ll tell you in a minute.” Kana grabbed Leah and pulled her on by them, running right on out of the building. 

Erwin yelled after them. “Do not ignore your superiors!” 

Kana ran down the street, looking every which way for the familiar face. She slowed to a stop when she finally found her. Tsuki was standing outside a café, sipping at her warm cup of hot chocolate. She waved at them when Leah and Kana slowed to a stop before her. “What are you guys – Kana! Your eye!” 

Kana pulled the cloth from her eye and stared in shock at her friend. Sure enough. A blue aura was around her as well. “It’s not fire.” She panted. The blue was a sign of the Slayers. Then red was most likely Titans, since that was Eren’s difference. Then… “I can see them…” 

“See what…?” Tsuki asked in surprise. 

Kana started to answer when she was attacked from behind and her arm grabbed and pinned to her back. “Ow, hey!” 

“If you would have just done what you’re told, you’d have been fine.” Mike scolded. 

A minute later, Erwin and Levi walked up while Erwin growled, “I expect some answers, now.” 

“What kind of answers?” Kana snapped. “Cause I’d like some, too.” 

Erwin huffed. “Are you trying to be as difficult as possible?” 

“No I’m really not.” Kana growled. “Ju- ow, would you let go!? I’m not gonna run off!” 

Erwin motioned for Mike to let go and then demanded, “Now, what happened?” 

“I don’t know. Your doctor is useless and couldn’t tell me why my eye started bleeding.” Kana explained. “If he gets paid, someone had better suspend that.” 

“Can you be serious?” Erwin demanded. 

“No, I really can’t because I don’t know what’s going on any more than you d- “ Kana stopped talking suddenly when a blur of red walked by them. She stared in shock, watching as they walked by. The lean, blonde figure was hard to not recognize. It was Annie. 

Suddenly, the Female Titan’s fighting style, appearance, and eyes all flew right back to her. She felt her breathing stop all together. There was no possible mistake about it. That was her. It had to be her. Kana started to follow her when her name was shouted. 

Erwin was starting to look furious now. “What in the hell are all of you up to? And what are you hiding?” 

“I…” Kana was in total shock. There was something much more important to discuss. But how could she just announce that she knew who the Titan was? That she could see the red aura? That she had magical powers Humans shouldn’t be able to comprehend. That she was a freak? “Uh… Hey if we had a suspect for the Female Titan, could we lure them outside the walls and drag them out?” 

“Do not change the subject!” Erwin ordered furiously. 

“I’m not…” Kana kept trying to see through the crowd, but since she’d broken eye contact with Annie, she couldn’t see her anymore. 

“We’re not playing games here. Do the three of you want to be arrested?” 

Tsuki hissed at Kana. “What are you doing!? What did you do?” 

Leah put her hands up. “This is all just some big misunderstanding. Nothing happened. We were talking with Eren and Kana’s eye started bleeding. We went to the doctor and she’s feeling a little delusional. She just needs to rest.” 

Erwin glared suspiciously at them. Leah defended, “Ask the doctor. Her eye is just bleeding for no reason. We’re not lying.” 

“Why were you going to see Eren in the first place?” Mike demanded. “I didn’t think anything of it at first since all of you were friends, but now this seems really suspicious. One of the guards heard you discussing breaking him out.” 

Leah gaped, “I was making a joke!” 

Kana elbowed her. “We’re fine. We’ll go home and stop causing trouble.” 

Erwin sighed. “Fine. But from now on, none of you are allowed inside without an escort. I don’t trust whatever is going on here.” 

“Yessir.” They all answered. 

Erwin and Mike turned to leave, but Levi demanded, “Now what is really going on here?” 

Kana tried to talk as fast as she could, “I think I finally figured out what my natural ability is.” 

“What? Cool!” Tsuki squealed. “What is it?” 

“These stupid aura things are appearing around certain people now. Blue around the three of us and red around Eren. Which makes me think that Slayers are blue and Titans are red.” Kana spat out but Leah suddenly cut her off. 

“What are you talking about?” 

Tsuki stared at Kana. “We have to tell her.” 

“You’re sure there’s nothing else in common you have that could cause these ‘auras’?” Levi questioned. 

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Kana stated. “But if that’s true then I know who the Female Ti – “ 

“Levi!” Erwin demanded. “Let’s go. There’s work to be done.” 

Levi gritted his teeth and told her, “We’ll talk later.” 

“Y-yeah.” 

As soon as all of them were gone, Kana turned and pushed both of the girls back into the café. “Okay, let’s fill Leah in on why she knows when people are gonna die.”


	37. Revelations

Leah was staring at her two friends in shock, but where Tsuki had stared at Kana with mystification, Leah’s was filled with horror. Her hands were shaking around her tea cup and she shook her head back and forth. “No, no it’s not true.” 

Tsuki reached over and gripped Leah’s hand. “I know it’s startling, Leah, I mean, even I’m still trying to grasp it. But you know that your ability to predict death is unusual.” 

“Yes I know it is…but this?” Leah stared at the water in her cup. “You two are amazing, so it’s believable. But I’m just me. I’m just a girl. I don’t care about protecting the human race or anything dramatic like that. All I care about is just living. I’d like to find my sister… but… I even understand that it’s just a dream.” She glared at her friends. “Do you honestly think someone like me could have the power to save the human race? I was born in a tiny village that no one, even to this day knows exists.” 

“So was I.” Tsuki told her. “But our past doesn’t matter. If you had this power, wouldn’t you want to do something? Don’t you want to help everyone?” 

“I was born outside of the walls.” Kana stated. Leah stared at her with wide eyes. Kana explained, “My parents traveled all the time. Well, my mom did. My father was always taking off. Rarely ever around. But he always found us. I’m sure it has something to do with being a Slayer. I know bits and pieces… what I remember from my childhood. But… I don’t know the details… If we can get further then we are now, maybe we can find more Slayers outside the walls.” 

“What about all the Titans!?” Leah screamed. “Yes, maybe I’m good at killing them… but I can’t… we can’t survive in Titan territory alone.” 

“Maybe we don’t have to be alone.” Tsuki assured her. “We can help the Survey Corps take back the territory. We can put up more walls and push the human race further beyond the walls!” 

Leah screamed, “You think just because I have this power, I can use it!? I don’t even know if I really do even have it! I think you’re just a bunch of liars!” Leah turned on Tsuki. “You just blindly go along with whatever Kana says! You have no proof either! You’d follow her to your own death!” 

“That’s what friends do!” Tsuki screamed back. “Leah, you’re being totally irrational about this! Just calm down and – “ 

“Tsuki, don’t yell back. She’s just scared.” Kana tried to settle both of her friends, but they both glared back at her now. 

Leah screamed again, this time, catching the attention of everyone in the café when she rose to her feet. “Shut up! You’re just going to get us all killed! You’re lucky! You can’t die, good for you! That doesn’t matter, you don’t know that we can’t die either! You’re just making guesses! You’ll say anything to get us to run blindly into death! Why!? What is so damn important to you, huh!?” She turned, tears racing down her cheeks, and ran out the café door. 

Kana gasped and shot up. “Leah, stop!” She burst out the door and went running down the street after her friend. Tsuki hung back to drop money on the table and took off after them. 

 

“They’re late…” 

Eren looked over at Levi when he spoke. They had been cooped up in this room with just a table and chairs for a while now. To his surprise, Levi had been talking almost nonstop. Maybe he was trying to keep his mind off of something…? 

“I can’t believe that good for nothing, Erwin… making me wait.” He took another drink. “The MP’s are gonna get here first…” After a sigh, he added, “Most likely he’s having trouble taking a shit.” 

Eren chuckled a bit. His gaze went to the little girl with black hair sitting in the corner. He’d noticed her lingering around since Kana had left earlier. It was the same girl that interrupted his trial. 

Levi asked her, “Mizuki, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be bothering Kana?” 

“I shouldn’t be near Kana right now.” Mizuki stated, hugging her teddy bear. “She’s cranky today.” 

“I wonder if that has to do with having to put up with you all the time?” 

Even he was preoccupied. Maybe talking would distract him as well. He kept thinking about what happened earlier that morning with Leah and Kana. Ever since it happened, he kept thinking about a conversation he and Kana had when they were in the castle… before Squad Levi had been lost. 

 

Eren rode alongside Kana as they headed back to the castle. They had a close call with a Titan coming a little too close, but Kana had made quick work of it and was joking about having to clean off the horse before Levi saw what she did. 

Eren couldn’t help commenting, “Kana, you don’t get very worked up around Titans. You don’t ever seem scared.” 

She blinked and asked, “I don’t? Really? Well, I’m scared all the time, Eren.” 

“You don’t seem it.” 

“I guess… after a while, you learn how to control your own fear. You realize that being scared of everything doesn’t change the fact that they’re there. So, then I ask myself: What am I really afraid of? What’s the point in being afraid?” 

“Why are you scared of everything, Kana? Most people weren’t ever scared before the Titan’s came through. At that point, we had nothing to be afraid. Everyone thought it’d last forever.” 

For the longest time, Kana went silent. Then her gaze grew somber and she slowly asked, “Hey Eren… do you think Titans are the strongest things beyond the walls?” 

Eren stared at her in shock, not sure how to respond. “Uh… yes? What do you mean…Kana…?” 

Kana started to laugh and waved her hand. “Oh nothing, I just think too much. I’ve always wondered if Titans exist… what else is out there that we don’t have any control over? What’s changed since Humans have been out of the world for a century…?” 

“Huh… I never thought of that…” 

 

Eren stared at the table. “Captain Levi…?” 

“Hm?” 

“Kana asked me a strange question a while back.” When Levi gave him a questioning look, Eren went on, “She asked me if I thought Titans were the strongest things to be worried about. What do you think she meant?” 

Levi stared at him for the longest time before taking a sip of his drink and answered plainly, “Who knows. She was probably just stressed out about something. People tend to talk a lot when they’ve got something bothering them.” 

“Speaking of, you’ve been pretty talkative lately.” 

“I’ve always been talkative.” 

Eren looked down again. “I’m sorry.” When he had Levi’s attention again, he added, “Back then, if only I hadn’t made the wrong choice, things might have been different. Even you were injured.” 

“I told you. No one knows how things will turn out.” 

They sat in silence for only a few more minutes before Erwin came in with several people with him as well. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, and a few more officers. 

Erwin opened with, “We’ve found someone who we suspect to be the Female Titan.” After everyone sat around the table, he went on. “The target is attached to the Military Police Brigad in Stohess District. We’ve devised a plan to capture the Female Titan once and for all. We move the day after tomorrow. On that day, we are being summoned to the royal capital, with Eren. With the situation as it is, we’ll be forced to hand Eren over. If that happens, it’ll be difficult to lure out those who are trying to destroy the wall. As a result, the extinction of humanity would become a real possibility. 

We designed this operation to break through every one of our roadblocks. We’re betting everything on it. We will most likely not have another chance. To put it broadly, Eren will sneak out while we’re being escorted by the Military Police Brigade inside Stohess. From there, he’ll lure the target out to be captured to an underground location if possible, so that she won’t be able to transform into a Titan. If we can capture one of the Titans trying to destroy the wall by using Eren as a decoy… the problem of the summons will of course, disappear. The capital attention should turn to defending the walls as well.” 

After several minutes, Eren’s eyes lit up with hope. But Erwin continued to speak and as he did, the flicker of hope started to burn out. “Armin was the one deduced the Female Titan’s identity. And I decided to carry out this plan based on his proposal…Armin encountered the Female Titan and surmised that she may have been among you in the 104th training Corps. We also believe she killed the two Titans that were captured alive. Her name is… Annie Leonheart.” 

The next hour was spent arguing about what evidence Armin had to suspect her and Eren arguing that there wasn’t enough proof to do anything about it. When the arguing had just started to settle down, the door flew open. 

Two soldiers were panting, their eyes wide. The first one to catch his breath finally said, “Th-there’s a serious issue in the stohess district.” 

Eyes widened across the room as all of them began to fear the worst. Erwin shot up. “What’s going on?” 

“A couple soldiers are having an argument. Just… you have to come see for yourself.” 

 

Kana stared, her eyes wide. Tsuki had stopped beside of her, but she, too, was in shock. 

About twenty feet in front of them, someone had caught Leah as she ran away. The blond soldier had grabbed her friends arm and twisted her into a headlock. Leah twitched but the woman was too strong and she couldn’t get out of her intense grasp. The scared girl whimpered, “P-please let go… I’m sorry for running into you.” 

Kana glared at her. “Annie… let her go.” 

Annie’s dark gaze was on Kana the entire time; not even a blink disrupted the eye contact. After the longest time, she looked down at Leah and whispered, “She was crying. Did you two have a disagreement?” 

“Yeah.” Tsuki stated, a small laugh on her lips. “But we’ll – “ She stopped talking when Kana put her arm up in front her. 

“Annie. Let her go.” Kana ordered. 

Annie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not my senior officer. I don’t take orders from you.” When a couple other soldiers walked up, trying to intervene, Annie snapped at them, “Back off! This doesn’t concern you!” 

Tsuki hoarsely asked, “Annie, why are you behaving like this?” 

Leah winced when Annie’s arm tightened around her neck. “I-It hurts.” 

“Annie! This is your last warning!” Kana shouted, “Let her go or I swear I’ll kill you where you stand!” 

“Killing me because I touched your friend? That seems a little extreme don’t you think?” Annie challenged. In that moment, acknowledgement passed between them both. She could see that Annie knew she was a Slayer that survived a deathblow and Annie knew that Kana was aware of her being the Titan. She whispered darkly, “I recall killing you already.” 

With that, Leah let out a gasp and a scream and started to struggle. “Y-You can’t be! Please let me go!” 

Annie started to squeeze Leah’s throat. “Stop struggling!” 

Tears ran down Leah’s cheeks. “K-Kana… I-I’m so sorry…Please… I’m sorry I yelled at you. I- I believe in you, too. I was scared… please… please… 

…I just don’t wanna die…” 

Kana’s hands clenched into fists and Tsuki gasped, “Annie is the Female Titan?” 

Kana snarled, “Titan or not, Annie, if you do not let her go, I will rip you limb from limb!” 

“Since you survived death…” Annie growled. “I can only assume you’re the mortal enemy of our kind. You’re a Slayer. Which means I’m not allowed to let you live. And at this point… my identity is already terminated. There’s nothing stopping me right now.” 

“Let her go!” Kana screamed, feeling her heart racing in fear and rage. 

Annie raised her hand to her mouth. “It’s time we finish what we started, Slayer!” 

 

Erwin, Levi, Eren, and Mizuki were all sitting in a carriage that was racing down the streets to the Stohess district. Mikasa, Armin, and Jean were being escorted in another carriage 

After staying quiet for too long, Eren asked, “Do you think it has anything to do with what we were just talking about?” 

Erwin watched out the door. “I don’t know. It sounds too peaceful for it to be any kind of Titan attack…” 

“…Yet.” Levi added. 

Mizuki stiffened suddenly and her eyes went wide. Eren blinked and looked at her. “Hey, little girl are you okay? What’s wrong?” 

Levi and Eren looked at her as well. In the very next moment, she shot to her feet, threw her teddy bear down, and started screaming at the top of her lungs. “Let me out! Let me out right now! NOW PLEASE! I HAVE TO GET OUT!! OPEN THE DOOR!!” 

Eren and Levi both went for her when she started to pry open the door. Eren stayed between her and the door but she kept screaming while Erwin ordered the carriage to stop. Mizuki had tears down her face now. “KANA WAIT!! OPEN THAT DOOR LET ME GO! KANA NO!!! KANA!!!!!” 

As soon as the carriage was stopped, she lunged out of Levi’s hold and pushed Eren out of the way and flew out of the carriage. Eren jumped quickly after her, but much more slowly, Levi followed. He ordered Eren, “Follow her!” Eren hesitated and he saw that his Captain’s gaze was filled with fear and concern. He started to do as he was told when Erwin jumped out. 

“Eren, wait.” Erwin looked down the road. “You stay back until we know what’s going on.” 

Levi’s hands clenched into fists. What would cause Mizuki to freak out like that? He automatically began to fear the worst for Kana.


	38. Burning

A bright light blinded them all. 

Kana, Tsuki and everyone else around were thrown back suddenly. The force sent them all the way back and down the street to the feet of Mikasa, Armin, and Jean. 

Jean helped Tsuki up. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” 

Eren, Erwin, and Levi walked up. Erwin demanded, “What happened!?” 

Kana had just gotten to her feet, Mizuki attached to her leg, when a massive Titan leg came flying at them. She just barely glanced the full form of the Titan before her body reacted. Tsuki let out a scream and Eren immediately bit into his thumb. 

He shouted, “I can’t transform!” 

Everyone’s eyes widened and they braced themselves for the Titan leg to hit them. Kana jumped in the way and raised both of her arms up at her side in a defensive stance. She felt the horrid impact of the giant foot slam into her side with such a force it felt like her body crumbled. The pavement under her feet gave way and she slid about ten feet before she was able to stop the momentum of the foot, just inches before it would have hit Erwin, Levi, and Eren. All three of them stared in shock. 

Kana panted, feeling the blood run down her arm and the side of her face. The mist was finally starting to clear so she could see the Titan in her entirety. She glared up into Annie’s face. Through her vision, she could see a fire, the deepest shade of red, erupted around the Female and the red lines formed all along her body. 

Erwin could barely find words to speak, “How… could she…?” 

“Kana, are you okay?” Levi demanded quickly. 

When the Female Titan withdrew her leg, Kana’s arms fell limp at her side and she glared at the ground. When she lifted her head, she saw that Annie had her hand clenched on something and she knew for a fact that it was Leah. She seethed, “No. I am the farthest thing from okay. I’m so mad… I’m so…fucking mad…” 

Erwin quickly asked, “I don’t know the details and I don’t need to know them. Can you fight this Titan?” 

Kana felt an animalistic fury rising in the pit of her stomach. She growled, “I can buy you time… until Eren grows his balls back and can transform.” 

Tsuki looked over her shoulder and every one else looked at him as well. His hands were bleeding, but he just wasn’t transforming. She shouted at him. “Come on, Eren!” 

Erwin nodded. “Alright, we’re counting on you, Kana.” He turned to the other soldiers. “We need to get Eren hidden until someone comes with supplies and gear! Then we have to help buy time until Eren can transform! Move out, now!” 

Mizuki was jumping up and down. “Play time! Play time! Play time!” 

Kana started to walk towards Annie when Levi grabbed her arm. “Don’t die.” 

Kana hissed, “You know that I can’t.” 

Mizuki jumped up and her body turned into the familiar black mist. But this time when it wrapped around her arms, it turned into a black substance that grew down, turning into what looked like large gloves at first, but the fingers on the gloves crawled out turning into long, lethal spikes. Kana looked down at her hands. “Good choice, Mizuki. Now I can literally rip her to shreds.” 

Tsuki asked her friend, “Are you really going to face her without gear? Can you?” 

“I can do anything.” With that, Kana raced down the street. At the same time, Annie ran back towards her. When they were close enough, Annie leaned down, going to punch her into the ground when Kana jumped out of the way and propelled herself onto her arm. She ran up the Titan’s limb and jumped towards her face. “Let go of my friend, right now you son of a bitch!” 

 

Eren kept biting at his hands, but nothing was happening. Erwin asked, “Can you really not transform into a Titan?” 

Eren was shaking with rage. “Wh-why!? I have to, so why can’t I!?” 

Erwin stood back up and ordered, “Keep trying.” At the mouth of the alley, he saw Levi standing there, watching the Titan and Kana. His hands were clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white. Erwin looked at the battle in time to see Annie kick Kana through a building and Levi noticeably flinched. “She’ll be fine. If anything is apparent that this point, that is.” 

Levi gripped his leg. “I should be out there fighting, too.” 

“There’s nothing we can do without gear.” 

While Eren started to scream about becoming a Titan, Armin asked Tsuki, “Where is Leah? Isn’t she usually with you guys?” 

Tsuki looked down and gritted her teeth. “Annie grabbed a hold of her before becoming a Titan. I think… Annie is holding her hostage in her hand. That’s why Kana is so mad…” 

Armin’s eyes widened. “N-No… she has a hold of her…?” 

Mikasa touched Tsuki’s shoulder. “What about Clay? I haven’t seen him around in a while.” 

“Uh, I don’t know about Clay. Sorry. Now that you mention it… I haven’t seen him in several days… he hasn’t been around much lately.” Tsuki admitted. 

Mikasa’s eyes narrowed and she turned to Eren. “You have to think of a goal, Eren. You know this.” 

“I am!” Eren insisted. 

“Are you? Aren’t you still hesitant to fight Annie? Don’t tell me that this late in the game, you still might just be imagining that Annie is the Female Titan. Think about what you just saw. The one who killed your squadmates… it was her! Do you still think we’re wrong? You know it’s true, right? That Annie is the Female Titan. So… doesn’t that mean you have to fight her?” 

Eren narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, you’re right.” 

 

Kana put her arms up just in time as Annie’s fist flew at her and buried her under another rooftop. Kana dug herself out and ran across, waiting for her to swing again. This time, she jumped on the arm. She dug her claws into the Titan’s flesh and waited until she was pulled back in. She lunged off and raised her claws, aiming for something worth hitting, but she swung too soon and barely nicked her hip. She bounced back off and flew through the air as Annie swung her leg up to kick her in mid air. 

The kick landed, but Kana grabbed and held on to Annie’s foot. When she went to put it back down, Kana found her footing and held on, bracing the entire weight of the Titan on her shoulders. She let out a howl of pain. Her entire body was being crushed under her weight and she could feel each bone cracking one by one. 

But she finally got the leverage she needed and cut open the bitch’s foot. Once she had it split open, she landed a solid punch, tipping Annie over onto her back. Without wasting a second, she ran up the Female’s body, going for her hand. She was almost to her wrist to cut it off when the other hand came around and wrapped around her. 

Unlike the first time, she wasn’t crushed. Annie wasn’t stupid enough to waste her time trying. Instead, she threw her like a rag doll. Kana let out a scream as she hit the ground, feeling it crumble under her and she flipped about another hundred yards, almost back to the alley where they were hiding Eren. 

Kana rolled over, feeling the wind knocked out of her. “So fucking close.” She slowly got back to her feet. Just over her shoulder, she saw a supply cart trotting up with a load of maneuver gear and supplies. “Bingo.” 

Erwin waved for the soldier to put their gear on. Kana rushed to the cart and grabbed one before everyone else got there. She kept looking over her shoulder, seeing the Female struggling to get up on her injured foot. It wasn’t until a second later that she felt a second set of hands helping her into her gear. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Levi hurrying through the belts. “Thanks…” 

“I figured it’d be hard to get this one with your hands like that.” Levi told her, not slowing in belting her up and preparing her gear. “Eren can’t transform. I hate to ask, but – “ 

“I can buy all the time you need.” Kana stated. “She can’t kill me.” 

“I know. I just hate watching it.” His grip tightened on the back of her tank top. “I should be out there helping you…” 

“Levi.” Kana started but her eyes widened. The ground was shaking. She looked quickly back over. Annie was running towards them. More than that, she was already upon them, her leg swinging to kick them both. She let out a scream and wrapped her arms around Levi, “MIZUKI.” 

Her gloves shifted and covered their bodies in a convex shape, like a giant shield. By far it was the worst impact she had ever felt. Her obsidian shield slammed into the back of her head and her shoulder after Annie’s full force kick. It sent both of them flying and the shield spun off in a completely different direction. They both rolled across the ground before coming to a stop. 

Kana panted; her whole body was shaking. “Mizuki…” The pain was incredible. Despite having her weapon’s protection, it wasn’t enough to even decrease the impact. She sat up just enough that she could reach over and touch Levi’s back. “Levi…?” 

He shifted and sat up. “I’m fine. Surprisingly. Thanks.” 

“Don’t thank me yet…” Kana winced and looked over, seeing the Female walking towards them. Kana kept looking around. “Mizuki! MIZUKI!” 

Annie was about to descend back on them. She hovered over them, raising her hand to smash them into the ground. The only thing Kana could do at this point was cover Levi and hope that her body held together enough to keep him from being crushed. Before the hand reached all the way down, a blur flew over their heads. With wide eyes, she saw Annie’s wrist burst with blood and immediately following, the insides of Annie’s ankles were cut wide open. The great Titan fell, barely missing landing on top of them. 

Kana sat up and gasped when Clay landed right beside them. Kana’s mouth was agape. She couldn’t find anything to say. She had been about to thank him when she realized there was a deep crimson red aura around him. 

Clay… 

Was a Titan…? 

He reached a hand out to her. “A simple thanks, works.” 

Before she could, still, say anything, she heard something buckle in place. “There.” Levi told her, getting up himself. “Your gear is ready. Don’t let it go to waste.” 

Kana nodded and looked back at Clay who looked at her with confusion. “What’s wrong?” 

“We’ll talk later.” Kana ran on by him and towards Annie’s hand. She ran under Annie’s body and disappeared. 

Levi turned to Clay and ordered, “Make sure everyone gets gear on. Distract that Titan and keep her away from Eren until Erwin gives further notice.” 

Clay smirked. “Yes sir.” He rushed into the alley where soldiers were frantically getting their gear on. He saw his friends all around Eren, trying to get him to transform. When he ran up, Mikasa gasped and wrapped her arms around him. 

“Where did you go?” She asked, her eyes filled with worry. 

“I’ve been on guard duty.” Clay answered, then looked at Eren who stood up and was walking to the mouth of the alley. 

Tsukiko asked, “Is he gonna do it?” 

“I sure hope so.” Mikasa stated, watching him as everyone else was. 

Jean touched Tuski’s back. “Come on, here.” He handed her maneuver gear and they got ready along with everyone else. 

 

Kana jumped up, trying to cut Annie’s hand but she withdrew it too fast. She swung her swords, but all she did was barely clip her pinky finger. She flipped back out of the way as Annie tried to knee her. She propelled herself off her knee and used her gear to hook into her shoulder. She came up and around, but Annie shifted herself to Kana flew high up into the air. 

She looked down, gasping when she another light burst towards the opening of the alley. Before she knew it Eren’s Titan form was roaring to the skies. Kana grinned and flipped in the sky and landed on Eren’s shoulder. She patted the side of his face. “Hey you! Can you hear me!?” 

Eren nodded his head. Kana laughed. “Good boy. Now listen up. You can beat the shit outta her later but I need you to do something for me first. She’s got my friend caught up in her fist. Save her first, okay?” 

Eren roared out loud in agreement and then charged for Annie.


	39. Clash

Mizuki stumbled across the street, falling over each time a Titan foot landed. She rolled towards the mouth of the alley. As soon as Levi saw her, he carefully walked over and picked her up, getting her out of harms way. He kneeled down, setting her on the ground. “Mizuki, are you alright?” 

“I hit my head…” Mizuki mumbled. “It hurts.” 

“We’ll treat you after we beat this Titan. Can you transform?” Levi asked, being gentle with the girl as he examined the bruise and cut on her forehead. 

“No…” Mizuki whimpered. “She’s gonna have to win this on her own…” 

Levi looked up at the two Titans who were now mixed in combat. He gritted his teeth. “They will.” 

 

Annie had knocked Eren to the ground, but he rolled over and landed a solid punch to her jaw, sending her flying across the district. Kana had to use all of her strength to hold on as they flipped around. She shouted, “Don’t hold back, Eren! That bitch killed our friends! She killed them right in front of our eyes! We can’t let her get away with it!” 

Eren let out a roar again as he got to his feet. When he did, they saw that Annie was running towards the wall. She was trying to get away. Eren started to run towards her, but they saw that several soldiers were all flying towards Annie. One shouted, “Go for its legs!” 

The small squad that was flying closest to her became the victim of a spray of debris after Annie knocked tower off one of the buildings. Kana hissed, “Face your demise Annie! Give me back my friend! LEAH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!” 

From out of nowhere, ahead of Annie, a blur flew by, followed by another. To avoid a hit, Annie stopped suddenly and moved her head back. On the roof beside her, Mikasa and Clay landed. Clay shouted at her, “Mikasa, take it easy! We can let Eren handle this, you don’t have to put yourself in dangerous situations!” 

Mikasa shook her head. “No… it was my mistake that caused us to lose the Survey Corp’s best soldier. So to make up for my actions, I’ll do whatever it takes to slow her up so that Eren can erase her for good.” 

Clay gasped when Annie spun and kicked the building they were standing on. He wrapped his arms around her and jumped out of the way just in time. He landed on the ground and held her back. “Stop, just trust in them. You don’t have to bear the weight of everything on your shoulders!” 

While distracted by Mikasa and Clay, Eren came up behind Annie and pulled her around into an arm lock. Eren let out a roar and Kana laughed out loud. “Just hold her there, Eren!” She jumped off Eren’s shoulder and reeled herself into Annie’s arm. She started spinning around and around, slicing at her wrist each time. Before long, the muscles gave up and her hand went limp. 

Out of Annie’s grasp, Leah fell. Kana’s eyes widened and she jumped, catching her friend in midair. “Leah!?” 

Leah barely opened her eyes, still streaked with tears. She hoarsely asked, “Kana… can you ever forgive me?” 

Kana gasped when she landed in Eren’s hand. She wrapped Leah in the tightest embrace she could, nearly crying out of happiness. “Of course I forgive you.” Eren lowered his hand and Kana prodded Leah off and onto the ground. “Head back down the street. Most of our Survey Corps are hiding out of the way in an alley. Armin and everyone else is there.” 

Leah nodded and started running back down the street. Eren started to lift Kana back up when Annie suddenly got herself free. Eren closed his hand around her so she wouldn’t get thrown. Kana felt a lot of tumbling for several minutes before his hand opened up and she dropped down onto his shoulder. 

He was standing face to face with Annie in the middle of a street. She had her fists up, ready to fight, and he, too, was in a readied stance. Eren charged at the same time Annie swung her leg up to kick him. Her kick went right through his leg, knocking it clean off at the shin. 

Eren kept his leverage up to punch her face but she was able to block his fist with her hand. She stumbled a bit but as Eren fell off balance, Annie went in for another kick. This kick went right over her head and into Eren’s face, throwing him into a building. Kana snarled and jumped up onto Annie’s leg. She cut the back of her knee before having to get back out of the way. She landed back on Eren’s shoulder, seeing that he had bitten into her leg to keep a hold of it. 

Annie began continuously punching Eren’s head in until he let go. Annie turned and started running off so Kana jumped off Eren’s shoulder. She started to go after the Female when she stopped. She needed Mizuki. Where the hell had that girl gone!? 

 

Mizuki looked up suddenly. She was sitting on Levi’s shoulders as he, Erwin, and more soldiers were walking down the street, trying to keep the Titans in sight. Levi asked, “Something wrong?” 

“Kana’s calling me.” 

“Can you transform yet?” He asked. 

“I need to try.” Mizuki closed her eyes and shivered, but let out a pout. “I got nothing… I can’t do it.” 

Levi looked ahead. Kana… are you alright? 

 

Kana used her gear to get to the wall as fast as she could, cutting off the Titan. She used her gear, reeling herself up the wall just as Annie jumped onto it, climbing slowly up. She swung by, seeing someone else swinging from the other direction. 

Kana flipped and punched Annie’s fingers on her right hand, watching the crystal form shatter. She looked at her other hand in time to see Clay cut them off at the knuckles so only the crystal form was stuck in the wall. 

Annie dropped from the wall. Mikasa lowered herself down and landed on Annie’s nose for just a brief moment and ordered, “Annie… Fall.” 

As soon as she hit the ground, Eren scrambled over, pinning her down and ripping her head off. All of the running soldiers ran over, all working together to peel the skin back. Once they did, Eren reached in to pull her out but a glowing light appeared suddenly and she turned to into a crystal in his hand. 

Kana slid down the wall and ran up as everyone surrounded the crystal form. As soon as she was the ground, Tsuki tackled her from behind. “YOU DID IT!” She hugged Kana tight. “You guys were so super cool kicking Annie’s ass like that!” 

Kana waved a hand. “You can do that too, ya know? You just need some practice.” 

“I can be awesome too! Yeah!” Tsuki squealed and started jumping up and down. 

Kana trotted over to the other soldiers. “Save the celebrating for later. I have something else on my agenda.” 

Tsuki suddenly stopped cheering and her whole demeanor dropped. “Kana… if it involved torturing Annie, you’re out of luck.” 

“Huh?” Kana gaped. 

 

Jean was beating the crystal with his sword and cursing. “Damn you! Get out here and face what you’ve done, dammit! After everything…! You can’t just hide in there!” 

Tsuki grabbed Jean and pulled him back. “Please stop. You’re not making any head way. Beating your swords up on that crystal won’t get you anywhere. We’re not getting to Annie until she comes out on her own.” 

Hanji walked up behind them. “Get some wire. Let’s tie her up and get her underground before that happens. We don’t want to have to go through this again.” 

Erwin and Levi walked up as Erwin stated, “I don’t think that’s our only option.” He looked at Kana. “You broke that crystal form earlier, didn’t you? Can’t you break this?” 

Kana shifted uneasily when she realized that everyone was looking at her expectantly. “I can try.” Mizuki climbed off of Levi’s shoulders and on to Kana’s. “Can you shift into the long blade?” 

Mizuki shook her head. “I’ve been trying. I’m too injured.” 

Kana frowned and looked at Erwin. “I don’t think I can without my weapon.” 

“Wait, Kana.” 

They turned as Tsuki walked between Kana and Erwin and kneeled to Mizuki. “Amaak says his ability can heal.” 

“Amaak?” Kana repeated. 

Tsuki looked up at her and answered, “The fox, er, my weapon.” She held her hand out and a white mist seeped off her arm and wrapped around Mizuki. For a moment, Mizuki glowed before her head injury healed itself. 

After a moment, Mizuki narrowed her eyes. “Call for me!” 

Kana raised her hands and Mizuki turned into a black mist that circled around her hands and turned into a massive blade that was as long as her own body. But black metal wrapped around her hands like gloves and morphed all the way up her elbows. “Get back.” Immediately everyone obeyed as Kana swung the sword down and the perfect metal met with the crystalline surface. 

Kana’s eyes widened. 

For a moment, she was buried underneath a giant paw. Claws were digging into her back and she felt like her limbs were being ripped off. Fire burned all around them. Screams and lightning surrounded her. Death was waiting. 

In the next moment she was watching a girl standing before her father. He begged her forgiveness and told her to come back home no matter what. It was Annie. 

Death was waiting. 

Death was waiting. 

Death was… 

Kana let out a scream as her entire body was consumed in pain. She shook herself free and gripped her hair. It felt like electricity was running through her entire body at a thousand miles an hour. 

Levi and Tsuki immediately kneeled to her and asked her if she was okay but she didn’t hear anything. All she heard were screams and the growls of animals all around her. 

 

Tsuki frowned as she watched them put a limp Kana on a stretcher and take her to the hospital. She made a mental note that Levi had persistently insisted on going with her. With a sigh, she looked back up at the wall and saw that Mikasa and Clay were both still up there. 

That’s when she saw it. So did everyone else. 

Someone shouted. “There’s a Titan in that wall!” 

Tsuki gasped when a man – one of the wall worshippers – ran up behind her and shouted, “Someone… cover up that Titan! Sunlight can’t hit it!”


	40. Demands

Mizuki was sitting in the hospital room on a chair, staring at Kana. She kept swinging her legs out of boredom. She couldn’t figure it out. She’d been watching Levi sit perfectly still for several hours now, but the guy didn’t budge. How could he go that long without so much as even shifting?  
She let out a squeal when Kana finally opened her eyes. She raced to the bed and hopped on Kana’s stomach. “You’re alive!”  
“Was there a doubt?” Kana grumbled, sitting up.  
“Yeah!” She started pulling on Kana’s hair. “What were you thinking going into battle without me? You could have died!”  
“What?”  
Kana had just been getting ready to scold Mizuki when she realized for the first time that Levi was there as well. He scooted the chair to her bed side and demanded, “What do you mean she could have died?”  
Mizuki looked at Levi. “Well, the way a Slayer’s ability works is that they recover themselves by borrowing the life-force of their weapon. If their weapon is incapacitated, it’s the same as being human again.”  
“Did you know this?” Levi demanded, his teeth gritted. When Kana nodded, he yelled, “Then why the hell did you go back in to fight!?”  
Kana looked down. “No one else could do it.”  
“What if you would have been killed!?” Levi demanded.  
“What if? What if I had?” Kana asked. Levi had grabbed a hold of her collar, but now his hand was trembling. He sat back in his chair and lowered his head, releasing her shirt. Kana softly whispered, “I’m sorry. I know how you’re feeling…”  
“Do you? Do you know what it’s like to see the one person you care about in the world dead before you?” Levi’s hands clenched again. “I don’t think I can stand to see that again.”  
Kana leaned her forehead against his. “As long as Mizuki was awake, I was fine. It’s only if she had fallen unconscious. I was only vulnerable for a couple seconds.”  
“That’s all it takes, Kana…”

Leah, Tsuki, and Clay were standing at the top of the wall with Hanji and the Priest Nick. Hanji was explaining, “I guess that’s good enough for now. We’ll start on actual repairs once the sun sets. For now we’ll use a layer of quick drying joint filler and work on the fragile sections surrounding the damage at the same time.”  
“That seems fine…” Nick stated. “Did the citizens see?”  
“From the time of the battle ending to now, we’ve kept citizens away from the area, but I can’t promise that it stayed completely hidden.” Hanji answered.  
“I see…” He whispered.  
Hanji ordered, “I think it’s time for you to start talking.”  
“About what?” He asked.  
Tsuki stomped a foot. “About the Titan! Why are there Titans in the walls!? And why did you keep quiet about it!?” When he stayed silent, her eyes narrowed and she demanded, “You had better answer me!”  
“That’s not possible.” Nick stated, getting up. “I’m a busy man. My church and my followers are in shambles. This is all your fault. I’ll be sending you a bill for the damages. Now get me down from here.”  
“Alright.” Hanji grabbed his collar and leaned him off the edge of the wall. “How about right here!?”  
“This is ridiculous!” He yelled, “What are you doing!?”  
“What do you think you’re doing?” She demanded. “This is a grave crime. A serious offence affecting all of humanity. Is this why your little group was so fervently opposed to strengthening the wall and building underground passages? Wasn’t it the monarchy who granted you the right to butt any decisions regarding the walls? In other words, there’s no way you’re the only ones who know about this secret. There’s no telling how many do, though. Do you know exactly what we in the Survey Corps have spilled our blood for? To take back the freedom the Titans stole from us. For that cause, our lives were a small price to pay. Even if all we accomplished were small steps forward, we continued to give our lives it meant that one day humanity would be freed from this terror. And yet, we didn’t learn this vital information until now?   
Are you still going to play dumb? You’re going to say you have no idea how many of my comrades were being tossed out just to become Titan food? The truth is you people were staying quiet. You could afford to stay quiet. Do you understand? I’m not asking you. I’m ordering you. Talk. If you don’t, I’ll move to the next guy. I’ll ask him the same thing. What’s more important? Staying silent? Or staying alive? Your measly life wouldn’t be nearly enough. Or is it our donation that you want? How much?”  
“Let go of me…” He begged.  
“Now?” She demanded? “You want me to drop you here?!”  
He raised his arms as though ready to fall. “You have every right to be mad. But we do not stay silent out of malice! I do not cling to my life as though it were something precious. I’ll prove that to you. I’m nothing but a wretch. The only way I can go on living is by clinging to god. If this wretch before you refuses to say a single word… no matter what torment you bestow upon the other followers, you’ll never get a single word out of them. You do well to kill me and see for yourself. We will carry out our mission to the end!”  
Hanji growled. “Fine, you’re dead.” She went to let go, even tipping him on over, but last minute, she swung him around and threw him back on the wall. She sighed as she sat on the edge of the wall. “It’s been a while since I felt like this…”

Kana sighed, staring up at the ceiling of her hospital room. About an hour before hand, they had come for Levi for questioning. Since they’d taken him, she felt lonely. Even Mizuki had gone silent. Kana couldn’t help thinking back to whatever had happened when she tried to break the crystal around Annie.  
She had literally felt like she was dying. But why? For what reason? And was it her memories? Or were those Annie’s?  
A short time later, her hospital room door was thrown open. Three brigade officers stormed into her room and began shouting at her. Kana sat up quickly and asked, “What is going – “ She gasped and let out a howl of protest when they grabbed her by the hair and put her in cuffs. “What the fuck!?” Her eyes widened when they even put Mizuki in cuffs as well.  
They grabbed her arm and marched her out of the hospital. Just outside the doors, she saw a crowd forming. At the front of the crowd, she saw that Erwin and Mike were holding back a furious Levi. He was shouting, “Let her go, dammit! Get those fucking cuffs off of her! She’s not a criminal!”  
Erwin hushed him, “Levi, calm down. We had to do this for Eren, we’ll figure out a way to get her turned over to us. For now we have to play by their rules.”  
“I won’t let them lock her up in a cell!” Levi shouted, then at the officers, he yelled, “Damn you! She saved your fucking lives! You dogs! You’ll pick anyone who works to put the blame on! Put me in cuffs if that’s what you need!”  
“What is going on!?” Kana demanded.  
“Kana – “Levi started to shout at her, but Mike hit him in the gut and she watched in horror as he went limp.  
Erwin told her, “We’ll explain later, but for now, you have to deal with this.”  
The soldiers marched her on to HQ where she was put in the same cell that Eren had been in and took Mizuki to another room.  
The darkness was unsettling to her.

Tsuki, Leah, and Clay were sitting at HQ having breakfast. It didn’t seem right to them to go to the café. Leah mumbled, “Can you believe they arrested Kana after she saved their lives?”  
Tsuki grumbled. “Welcome to the interior. They’re all paranoid and want to blame everyone.” She set her coffee down. “But at least they let all of the Corps members who’d been suspended for interrogation go. The rest of our trainee squad should be coming back here soon.”  
Leah smiled, “Well that’s good.”  
Tsuki leaned forward and looked at Clay. “So what’s going on with you? You’ve been gone a lot and when you’re around, you don’t talk much anymore.”  
“Hm?” Clay looked at his drink. “Oh, sorry. I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”  
“Like what?” Leah asked. “You can tell us. Or will your girlfriend get mad?”  
“Girlfriend?” Clay repeated in shock.  
“Yeah, Mikasa? Right?” Tsuki asked. “Don’t tell me you guys aren’t dating.”  
“Not…really…” Clay stated.  
“So she’s not the one you’ve been spending your time with?” Leah questioned. “You have someone else you’re interested in?”  
“No…” Clay stated.  
“Then it is Mikasa!?” Tsuki shouted.  
“Shut up!” His cheeks were turning pink. “What about you and Reiner? Are you guys official?”  
“For your information.” Tsuki snapped back. “We are and have been. We’re celebrating our year anniversary in a few days.”  
“AWWW…” They both sang back to her.  
Tsuki looked at Leah. “But about your boo? How are you and Armin?”  
She blushed darkly. “Well… I don’t know about our status together… but… he was really upset yesterday about me getting caught. He went on and on for about an hour about how he wished he could have done something to help me. He felt so bad…”  
“Aw…” Tsuki grinned. “You two are so cute… He cares so much about you.”  
“Yeah.” Leah looked up. “Do you guys think Kana is involved with anyone?”  
“Now that you mention it… she never talks about anyone.” Tsuki put her finger to her chin. “I can’t think of anyone that she spends an unusual amount of time with. Or… that I’ve seen her act flirty towards.”  
“Maybe she’s asexual.” Clay teased.  
“I would suggest gay before that.” Leah stated. “But y’now…” She started to say something and then shook her head. “Oh nevermind it’s silly.”  
The door to the dining hall flew open and they all jumped to their feet. The soldier in the door way, shouted, “We have a problem! Wall Rose has fallen!”


	41. Crumbling

Tsuki was sitting in her bunker room, staring out the window. As soon as word spread of Wall Rose falling, the entire district was in a frenzy. They were given orders to deploy the next day to find where the wall had been breached so they could prepare an expedition to get Eren out there and find a way to plug it up. Everyone had been so crazed, even when Reiner came back, he was distressed and said that he had other things to take care of. He didn’t have time to spend the evening with her.  
She rested her chin on her knees.  
What was really going on around here?

Kana looked up when she heard footsteps for the first time all day. Her heart started racing. Had Levi finally been given permission to see her? Could she finally talk to someone?  
Her heart stopped when two people stopped in front of her cell. She recognized both of them but couldn’t only pin a name to one of them.  
“Reiner?”  
“How much did you tell Tsuki?” Reiner demanded.  
“What are you talking about?” Kana asked back.  
Reiner gripped the cell bars and growled. “I don’t want Tsuki involved. What did you tell her about being a Slayer?”  
“Why does it matter – Wait, how do you know what she…” Kana stopped and her eyes widened. She focused her power to her right and eye and sure enough. The two boys in front of her were glowing red. “Oh, son of a…”  
“Answer my question.” Reiner ordered quietly. “I don’t want to do this… I don’t want to be like this… but I will do whatever I must to avoid involving her. She cannot be dragged into this!”  
“You bastard!” Kana screamed. “I’m assuming since you’re saying she’ll be dragged in that you’re not helping us like Eren is! You’re one of the Titans trying to destroy the walls! Why!? What can you gain! If you take down the walls… before you knew she was a Slayer, she would have been killed too!”  
“I have a plan for Tsuki. I will protect her.” Reiner snapped. “But I need you to shut up about the Slayer stuff. Don’t force her into fighting us. We’ll show her the right path.”  
“You think she’ll help you! No! She wants to help her people! She wants humanity to live every bit as much as everyone else!” Kana reached out through the bars and grabbed his face. “I’ll kill all of you!”  
“Kana… please understand. We didn’t come here to fight.” The other one said.  
“That’s a shame!” Kana snarled before throwing a punch. Her fist hit squarely in Reiner’s face, but to her horror, she felt a mind-blowing pain up her arm and multiple cracks echoed in her ear. She pulled her arm back, the broken bone falling limp against her hip. She dropped to her knees, screaming in agony.  
“Calm down, listen.” Reiner ordered. “Don’t interfere. Don’t drag Tsuki any further in. Tell her it was a mistake. You were joking about the whole Slayer thing.”  
“Or what…?” Kana demanded through teeth gritted in pain.  
“Wall Rose has fallen to the Titans.” Reiner stated simply. “You were keeping three kids at a home inside the wall. They’re with the other refugees now. We’ve been ordered to kill them if you don’t comply. Please… I can’t hurt children. Don’t make me do the unthinkable, okay?”  
Kana stared in shock and horror. Wall Rose was down?  
The kids…?  
Oh god…

The next morning came too slowly.  
Erwin walked up to her cell and unlocked it. “We’ve come to a temporary agreement. Come with me – “ He paused as she got up, looking at her arm. “What did you do to your arm?”  
“I punched the wall.” She whispered plainly.  
Erwin escorted her to a room that she was too familiar with. Inside was Armin, Leah, Tsukiko, Reiner, Mikasa, Eren, Clay, Levi, Jean, and few others from the 104th squad.  
Levi’s eyes widened when he noticed her arm, but didn’t say anything.  
“We’ve bought some time by sending you on a mission beyond the walls. It’s similar situation as with Eren.” Eren explained. “This is the squad you’ll be going with and as I’m sure you suspected, Levi was persistent about being in charge of this. You’ll be traveling along the wall in search of the breach. A simple, easy mission.”  
“Okay…” Kana mumbled, feeling her blood gone cold. For a moment, her gaze went to Reiner. He looked away. He looked like his decision was almost painful for him. It was as though his own life, or a life he cared about was riding on the decision to threaten her family.  
Erwin looked at her questioningly a moment before dipping his head and bowing out of the room. Tsuki trotted up to her and took her good hand in her own. “Hey Kana, what’d you do to your arm? Weren’t you cooped up in a cell?”  
“Looks like she punched a brick wall.” Clay teased. “Were you mad last night, Kana?”  
“Yeah. I was a little mad.” Kana whispered.  
“So we saw you flip a Titan.” Leah stated, “Did you win against the wall?”  
“I woulda thought you’d have punched right through it.” Tsuki added.  
“Hey, you don’t look so good.” Eren commented. “Are you sure you’re up for a mission?”  
“Yes. I just didn’t sleep well last night.” Kana explained.  
“Well, training should wake you up.” Leah stated. “You’ve gotta show Tsuki and I how to use our cool new powers.”  
Kana felt her heart starting to pound like crazy in her chest. Her eyes widened and she trembled. “Y-yeah… I… I…” She suddenly envisioned her siblings being eaten and/or killed by any sort of Titan and she lost any will she had. “Oh god…” She dropped to her knees. Her two friends went to her side, but Levi pushed between them.  
As he helped her to her feet, he ordered the rest of the squad. “Go get your equipment ready. I’m taking her to the infirmary.” He was already heading out the door before waiting for their answers. Once they were well away from the room, he ordered Kana, “What’s going on? Don’t use the ‘punched a wall’ excuse on me. You told me that something with the force of a Titan wouldn’t even be able to harm you.”  
“Specifically the Female Titan.” Kana corrected weakly. “But something stronger than the Female Titan still can.”  
“What are you saying?” Levi demanded, starting to lose his patience.  
“Is it true…Levi… Has Wall Rose fallen?”  
“…Yes.”  
“Then where are squirts…? Someone went to get them, right?”  
“The Titans came too fast.” Levi mused reluctantly. “They’re currently underground with the other refugees.”  
Kana collapsed on down to her knees and her breathing grew hoarse. “God dammit…”  
He kneeled down to her and touched her back. “Kana, calm down. We’ll get them back, I - “  
“How do you know?!” Kana yelled at him. “Do you even know if they knew to evacuate their house!? Do you even know if someone went to get them!? Do you even know if they’re alive now!?” She slowly got back up and pushed him away. “You swore they’d be protected…”  
“Kana…” Levi whispered.  
“I’m not the one that lied.” She hissed, pushing open the door to the infirmary and slamming it in his face. He stared in shock at the wall that had gone up between them.


	42. Breached

“Erwin has sent several squads out already.” Levi stated. He, along with the rest of the squad were all already on their horses and running across Titan territory. “Their primary objective is to help get everyone underground and protect any survivors. As well as to spread the word to areas not yet attacked by Titans.”  
“So what’s our goal?” Clay asked.  
“Exactly as Erwin stated, we’ll be traveling the length of the wall searching for the breach.” Levi looked back at Eren. “At that point we have to hope Eren can pull through and we have to find some way to plug up the hole.”  
As they loped along, Reiner rode his horse up next to Tsuki. “Hey, I want you to stay beside me the whole time, alright?”  
“Why? I can handle myself.” Tsuki giggled. “In fact, you might need me to protect you.”  
Reiner chuckled. “You sure are confident. You look beautiful when you’re like that.”  
Tsuki gasped and hit him. “Don’t say stuff like that!” Her cheeks were a crimson red. “But thanks…”  
Armin was looking around worriedly. “The Titans came so fast… I wonder how many we lost…?”  
“Let’s not think about that.” Leah told him. “Let’s just focus on saving as many people as we can. Stay positive.”  
“Right.” Armin looked ahead. “That’s all we can do.”

Sometime later, Mikasa pointed to their far right. “Look.” When Clay looked over, they all saw several Titans converging on a small abandoned farm house. She asked, “What do you suppose they’re so focused on?”  
“Dunno.” Clay stated, but his eyes narrowed.  
“As long as it keeps them out of our way, our mission will all the more likely be successful and without casualties.” Levi stated. “Just keep moving.”  
“Holy crap.” Leah’s eyes widened and she pointed at a huge Titan that was going in the same direction as the others. But to their surprise, the Titan was completely covered in fur. “I’ve never seen one like that before.”  
Mizuki formed in Kana’s saddle all of a suddenly and pointed at the Titan. “Let’s go kill it!”  
“No, we’re staying with the squad.” Kana scolded.  
“Then I won’t get to play!”  
“Then you don’t play.” She retorted. “Now shut up and be good.” When she looked back over, her power activated in her eye and she could see a lot more red flames among the trees around the farm house. “Besides… there’s a lot of Titans hiding out over there that aren’t moving. It’s too dangerous.”  
“I wanna fight the monkey! Let me fight the monkey!” Mizuki screamed at her.  
“Shut up! I don’t give a damn what you want!” Kana snarled.  
Mizuki frowned and pouted, cuddling her teddy bear. “You don’t have to be so mean…”

Reiner’s hands were tight on the reins as he started talking again, “Hey, Tsukiko… after this mission… do you want to go somewhere? Like, on a date?”  
Tsuki giggled again and smiled. “Sure. Where are you thinking?”  
“It’s a little ways away. It’ll be a long walk.” Reiner explained.  
Kana’s eyes widened and she glared back at Reiner. His gaze met hers for a moment and she felt all of the fury rise up inside of her all over again. She was so enraged that her fists were shaking. That son of a bitch…  
“You keep getting distracted.” Levi scolded. “Focus or you’ll be eaten.”  
“Like my family.” Kana snapped. She instantly hated that the words escaped her lips because she saw Levi turn away, his eyes filled with regret.  
“Titans!”  
Kana looked up but before she could say or do anything, Mikasa and Clay flew overhead, swinging around and cutting the necks out of the two Titans that were running towards them. They reeled back around, landing securely back in the saddles.  
She also had that to deal with.  
What the hell was really going on?

Night set in and several squads all met up at a castle to rest for the night. Hanji had also been leading a fairly large squad of members from the 104th trainee corps. While leading them, she’d also been escorting the priest that Tsuki recognized as the one that told them to barricade the Titan from the sun.  
Several of them were all sitting around in the room, when Hanji came in with Nick in tow. “Yo, Levi. How’s your leg holding up?”  
“Bearable.” Levi grumbled. His gaze shifted to the priest. “What is he doing here?”  
Hanji sat down at the end of the table. “Oh that? Well, you see, we’re friends with Nick here now. He knew all about the Titans in the wall but has been keeping silent about it until now. I have no idea why, but he seems adamant about keeping his mouth shut about concerns regarding the wall. Even if he has to die for it. Apparently his members know a lot more about the wall, too. I was going to ask some other members of his sect, but he agreed to come with us of his own free will. The situation has changed, so it seems after what happened, he’s been having doubts if he should still follow the rules. So he wants to see the real state of affairs with his own eyes.”  
Eren’s hand clenched into a fist. “You’ve been keeping quiet all this time!? How dare you!? People are dying!”  
Leah and Tsuki at the same time grabbed his jacket and yanked him back down. “Sit still.” Tsuki ordered.  
Clay looked at Nick. “But what could possibly be more important the preventing the annihilation of the entire human race?” He was leaned back in the chair with his legs up on the table. “It sounds kind of fishy to me.”  
Kana glared across the table at him. Just for good measure, she checked again. That flaring red aura was still around him. He and Eren both had it. Was there something else that the red meant? But then why were Tsuki, Leah, and her the only ones that were blue? Then of course, Mizuki was an off-purple color. Clay noticed Kana glaring at him and he waved, but she gritted her teeth and looked away.  
Tsuki had been watching Kana when she noticed that Hanji was messing with something in her hands. “Hey, Hanji-san, what do you have there?”  
“Huh, oh.” Hanji looked down.  
Leah teasingly asked, “Do you play with rocks?”  
“This is no ordinary rock.” Hanji stated. “This is a piece of the Female Type’s hardened skin that was left behind.”  
Armin gasped, “It didn’t disappear?”  
“Nope! It was cut off Annie’s Titan body when we tied her with ropes. Unbelievable but it didn’t evaporate or disappear.” Hanji explained. “Then I had an epiphany. I compared this piece to the broken fragments of the wall and the structures turned out really similar. In other words, the wall was created by the Colossal Titans that became the pillars.”  
Mikasa straightened up. “Then, it’s like what Armin said to us before… we’re being protected from Titans by Titans…?”  
“Then…!” Armin started but Hanji put her hand up.   
“No let me say it!” She interrupted and continued, “As is, we won’t be able to plug Wall Rose because there’s no boulders large enough, right? But what if Eren transformed and plugged the whole using his hardening abilities?” Everyone stared with shock at the possibility while Hanji continued, “The material properties are almost identical so what will be left behind will be like a huge fossilized statue that won’t evaporate or disappear. Could it be possible?”  
After a long pause, Hanji laughed to herself. “Oh goodness. I don’t think you could answer us right now even if you wanted to. But still, do you think you could do it?”  
“Uh…” Eren mumbled.  
Levi cut in. “The question isn’t if you could do it or not. Do it. You must. You’re aware of our situation. There’s nothing more the Survey Corps can do besides doing their damnest so make sure you succeed.”  
“Yes sir!” Eren answered immediately.


	43. Before the Storm

“Oh hey, Tsuki.” Jean looked at the blond haired girl as she walked through the room that he and the rest of his squad were sitting in. She kept walking, as though she hadn’t heard him. He got up, apologizing to Connie and followed after her. “Hey, what are you doing?”  
Tsuki glanced at him over her shoulder. “Oh, I’m just investigating. I don’t like this castle.”  
“Why?”  
“Have you noticed? It’s so close to the wall, but it looks as though someone’s been living in it recently.” Tsuki explained. “It’s really suspicious.”  
“I just blew it off as some rogues or something made it their hang out.” Jean stated. “You think there’s something more going on here?”  
“The door plate said this place is called Castle Utgard.” Tsuki went on. “I’m just having a look around. It can’t hurt.”  
“Mind if I join you?” Jean questioned.  
“Sure. It’ll probably be really boring.” Tsuki stated.  
“I can’t imagine anything with you would be boring.” Jean chuckled. When Tsuki laughed as well, he felt like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had never gotten any chance to spend a moment with her alone. She was always with her friends or Reiner…  
Maybe he should tell her how he felt? No. That would be rude. He knew that she was with Reiner and they had been happy together for a long time now. He couldn’t be so cold hearted as to come between that. But… while they were out here fighting for their lives… what if this was his last chance to tell her how he felt?  
What if he didn’t get a tomorrow?  
“Hey… Tsuki – “ Jean started when a shout stopped them both. Reiner ran up to them and smiled.  
“Glad I caught up with you guys.” Reiner stated. “I know it’s night time, but as you learned from your expedition, Tsuki, some Titans can move at night. We shouldn’t be wandering around.”  
“I just wanted to investigate this castle.” She stated. “Something about it bothers me.”  
“If you insist, I’ll join.” Reiner stated. “Three is better than two, right Jean?”  
“Y-yeah…” He agreed, looking down.  
For a while, they wandered the halls, peeking into rooms. At one point, they went through some barrels in a room in the far back corner. Tsuki was going through a book shelf at the time when her skin started to seep with white mist until it formed at her feet. A small, baby looking fox was there.  
“Amaak?” Tsuki questioned.  
Amaak nodded his head and trotted to the barrels in the corner. I smell food. Isn’t that what you’re searching for?  
“Er… no. I was just looking.” Tsuki stated and then jumped when the boys were looking at her. She couldn’t miss the look of pain that flitted across Reiner’s gaze.   
Jean shot up. “Tsukiko? Where did that fox come from?”  
“Oh uh…” Tsuki leaned down and picked Amaak up as she went through the barrels. “You know how Kana was being locked up cause of her being a Slayer? Well I’m one, too.”  
“Really?” Jean stated. “That’s awesome. No wonder you’re so strong. That’s amazing, Tsukiko.”  
She blushed and smiled. “Thanks. Oh! What is this?” Tsuki looked over it and Amaak told her. It’s herring. That’s what those words translate to.  
“Really? Cool. We can take it back and share with the rest of the squad.” Tsuki cheered.  
“What is it?” Jean asked.  
“Amaak says its herring.” Tsuki stated.  
“Meat? In a place like this?” Jean questioned. “I like the idea of taking it to everyone though. We can all share.”  
Tsuki nodded and started to put it in her pocket when she noticed that Reiner was still staring at the wall, not speaking. She walked up to him and placed her hand against his cheek. “Reiner, are you alright? Is something bothering you?”  
“No. I’m so sorry, Tsuki.” Reiner whispered.  
“Sorry? What for?” She asked.  
“I just am…” Reiner confessed.

“Hey look at this!” Sasha laughed as she pulled a bottle of alcohol out of a crate. “This might help us sleep.”  
Hanji scolded, “Put that away! This is no time to get drunk!”  
Sasha pouted and put it back.  
Leah noticed that Armin was looking upset so she asked, “Armin? What’s wrong?”  
“I’ve just been thinking. If the wall wasn’t breached, then where are those Titans infiltrating from?” He questioned.  
“Maybe they jumped.” Clay teased. Mikasa elbowed him and he chuckled.  
“We’ll look into it tomorrow. Just rest for now.” Levi ordered.  
“Could they have burrowed underground?” Burt suggested.  
“Titans can’t go underground. We proved that with Annie.” Eren stated.  
“You can go underground.” Mikasa pointed out.  
Kana gritted her teeth and stood up suddenly. Hanji gasped when she started to walk out of the room, “Where are you going?”  
“I need to move around.” Kana growled. She slammed the door behind her. She just couldn’t stay in a room full of Titans waiting to reveal themselves.

Leah frowned. “She’s been so upset recently. I wonder what’s going on with her.”  
Clay commented, “I think she’s upset because her siblings are somewhere underground with all these Titans running amok.”  
“At least there’s only a few.” Leah stated. “In fact. We only ran into one Titan the whole way here.”  
Ymir looked up at Connie and asked, “You’d mentioned earlier today that your village was to the south. Did you find it? What became of it?”  
“It was destroyed. We arrived there after it had been trampled by Titans. However no one was eaten… It seems that they escaped safely. So there’s some relief.”  
Levi looked at Hanji. “That true?”  
“Yeah. There was no blood anywhere.” Hanji stated. “But… I couldn’t tell Connie… the stable was still full of horses. It’s unlikely they got very far if they did get away.”  
“I see…” Levi looked down. He felt sympathy for him. He knew all too well what it was like to lose everything in one blow.  
“But didn’t you say the whole village was destroyed?” Ymir pressed.  
Connie answered, “Well, the buildings were destroyed, but no victims among them. When people are eaten you can find blood and other traces at the scene. There was nothing there so its only logical that they escaped in time.”  
Mizuki was sitting on the table between Hanji and Levi while the others were sitting in a circle on the ground. She had been throwing her bear up and down when she paused, causing the bear to fall to the ground. “Hm.” She stared at it a minute before tipping her head down. Her bangs darkened her face. “Uh oh.”  
“Uh oh?” Levi repeated, glaring at her. “What’s wrong?”  
“It fell.” Mizuki stated.  
“Then pick it up.” Levi retorted impatiently.  
Hanji leaned down, picking up the bear and handed it back to Mizuki before sitting beside Leah. “May I ask you some questions? About being a Slayer? The report stated that you and Tsuki admitted to being them, but since they had no evidence, they couldn’t lock you guys up.”  
“I don’t know very much.” Leah confessed.  
“Can you tell me what you do know?” Hanji urged. “Or… where did Kana go? I should talk to her.”  
Levi was staring at the door where she had stormed out. He hated that she was upset with him, but he couldn’t blame her. He’d let her down. But it seemed like there was much more going on. And he still didn’t know what had broken her arm that night. Maybe he should go talk to her.  
Mizuki caught her bear one last time. This time though, her eyes started watering. “Oh no. Oh no.” She started climbing off the table. “I gotta go. I should leave. Yes, leave. Not staying here.”  
Levi caught her before she got too far. “Why do you need to leave? What are you up to?”  
One of the squad leaders came barreling down the stairs and busted through the door, screaming, “Everyone! Get up!! Now!”


	44. Makeshift Crew

Kana cursed to herself. “Dammit. Dammit damn.” She stopped in the middle of the hall once she was far enough away. “I can’t just kill them. I couldn’t face Tsuki. I can’t tell anyone… they’ll hunt down the kids… shit. Damn you Reiner… If I don’t do something soon with Tsuki, he’ll seek them out anyway.” She started walking again, still glaring at the ground. “And what about Clay? Does he know he’s a Titan? What if he doesn’t? Then what the hell does that mean? Eren didn’t know he was a Titan at first. Should I tell him? Or should I just let it go?  
Ahhhh fuckkkkk!!!”  
Kana punched the wall, gritting her teeth in pain when her knuckles started bleeding. “Damn it all. And on top of everything… I don’t even know if the kids are safe…”  
She stopped suddenly when she heard a slithering kind of noise. She stepped away from the wall and looked either direction. Had someone come after her? Most likely it was Levi, worried about her. She felt bad. She didn’t want to be mad at him, but right now she was just a whirlwind of raging emotions. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”  
She stepped away from the wall and glared, waiting for whoever it was to come out of the dark hall. She started to yell again when she felt a sharp piercing pain right through her chest. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw the blood spurt from the blade going through her chest. A long green curved blade extended from her chest, back to a girl with brown hair and green eyes.  
A furious glare was pinned on her. “Get out of my home.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and she activated the power in her right eye. Sure enough. The girl was glowing blue. “You’re ah… a Slayer…” Kana ripped away, feeling the blade rip further up towards her shoulder before it was released from her body. “Fuck…”  
“You fucking Titan… get out!!” The girl screamed at her, slashing towards her several times. Kana dodged a couple of the attacks but couldn’t avoid all of them. She let out a couple shouts of pain before getting a little distance.  
“Listen to me!” Kana yelled. “I’m not a Titan! I’m with the Survey Corps! We’re on an expedition. I didn’t know anyone was staying here! Listen to me!”  
“You’ll say whatever you can to get out of trouble… you fucking monsters. I’ll kill you all!!” The girl spun, trying to slash at Kana again, but she ducked under and went running down the hall.  
“Shit… MIZUKI!!!” Kana screamed.

“What…? How…?” Tsuki shouted, staring at the Titans that were climbing all over the castle.  
“H-hah! Look at that!” Connie pointed to the distance where the giant furry Titan was walking towards the wall.  
“It’s that one from before.” Clay stated. “But it’s ignoring us.”  
“It’s going for the wall.” Connie mumbled.  
“But why?” Tsuki asked.  
Levi was looking around. “Where is Kana?”  
“I searched most of the building and informed as many as I could.” The squad leader informed. “Are we missing someone?”  
“Guys…!” Reiner pointed down the wall to the door at the base of the castle. “They’re getting in!” As he spoke, a Titan climbed in through the broken door.  
Tsuki’s eyes widened and she headed for the stairs. “I’ll go get Kana.”  
“Stop!” Levi ordered, cutting her off. “Right now you’re more of an asset in fighting the Titans than I am. I’ll go find Kana, the rest of you stay up here. You guys kill off as many as you can until we can find a way out of here.”  
Right on cue, Clay and Mikasa hopped up on the ledge. “You guys stay up here. Lure the Titans towards you while Mikasa and I attack them from behind.”  
“Wait, Levi.” Hanji stopped Levi before he took off. “Take a squad with you. The gear is useless inside and if they get through, well then… we’re all sitting ducks.”  
Levi looked over his shoulder. “Tsuki, Reiner, Leah, Armin. Come with me.”  
Before they took off, Jean shouted, “Wait. Captain! Please, let me join!”  
“Whatever, just hurry up!” Levi ordered, running down the stairs with his makeshift squad.  
Hanji turned and yelled, “Everyone else! Let’s clear out these Titans!”  
Clay flew down, jumping off the wall as a Titan reached for him. He flipped and cut its hand open as Mikasa came around cut out the back of its neck. For several minutes, they kept up the pace, chopping down the Titans that tried to get to the rooftop.

Tsuki shouted as they ran, “Do we have a plan?”  
“We’ll move as far down as we can and set up barricades and try to keep the Titans from getting any further in. Unfortunately, we’re at an extreme disadvantage here.” Levi explained.  
Reiner suggested, “I’ll scout down and see how far we can get.”  
Tsuki gasped, “No Reiner! That’s too dangerous! I’ll go since I can’t – “  
Reiner turned and cupped her face. “Tsuki… I don’t care if you can or can’t die. I will never let you put yourself in harms way, okay? So forget about this being a Slayer thing. Just be a normal girl. Let me protect you.”  
Tsuki stared at him in shock. “R-Reiner…”  
Reiner ran around Levi and on down the stairs. The smaller soldier was staring at his feet. He gritted his teeth and turned. “Then, Tsuki, come with me. We’ll search for Kana. The rest of you help Reiner set up the blockade.”  
“Right!” They agreed.  
They started on down the stairs to get to the room where the halls split off, but Reiner was stopped ahead of them. He was staring into the darkness beyond the doorway he was in.  
Tsuki asked, “What’s wrong, Reiner?”  
Reiner quickly spun around and slammed the door shut. He pressed his back to it as the door began shaking behind him. In a panicked voice, he yelled, “There’s a Titan down here already!”  
Leah gasped, “They’re this far up already?”  
“Then where is Kana?” Tsuki asked, trembling.  
“We need to block this door off.” Reiner stated.  
Leah gripped Tsuki’s sleeve. “Kana is alright, right?”  
“Of course she is.” Tsuki told her. “She’s always taking off and getting caught up in messes on her own. She can’t die.”  
Levi’s hands were clenched into fists, he ordered them, “You guys go get supplies to help block the door. Reiner, let me through.”  
“No way, if I open the door – “ Reiner stated, his eyes wide.  
“I will distract the Titan. I won’t let anyone die. Follow my order. Now.” Levi demanded.  
Before either of them could do anything, a hand burst through the door and tried to grab him. Last minute, Reiner ducked underneath it and darted away from the door. Just as the Titan started to break through the door, Levi drew his swords and cut it across its eyes, blinding it and moving back. “Get back!” He ordered.  
“Hey get out of the way!”  
The two of the looked up and saw Tsuki and Leah were pushing a cannon at the top of the stairs. Tsuki yelled. “We don’t have gun powder or anything… so we’re gonna give them the whole thing!”  
Levi and Reiner jumped out of the way just as the cannon flew by and fell on top of the Titan, smashing it underneath the weight. Levi sighed and turned, ordering, “All of you, get back to the top floor. Set up the barricade there. If this one is already this far up, more are sure to follow.”  
Tsuki nodded. “Yeah it’s only a matter of…” She stopped when she heard a noise.  
Leah burst into a run down the stairs. “TSUKIKO! BEHIND YOU!!”  
Tsuki turned as another Titan was already climbing through the door, right behind her. Without any hesitation Reiner plowed between them. He hit the Titan in the face and turned it away while pushing Tsuki forward out of harms way.  
Tsuki let out a scream, “Reiner!”  
The Titan turned its head and sank its teeth into Reiner’s arm. Tsuki withdrew her sword and got back up. “Why did you protect me!? I was fine!”  
Reiner gritted his teeth, trying to lift the Titan up. “I told you… I don’t want you… to get hurt… so just… let me protect you!” Reiner gasped when the Titan went suddenly limp on his body. He stumbled forward. “Tsuki, move.”  
She quickly scrambled out of the way as Reiner threw the lifeless Titan out the window. They all looked back at the opening to see what had killed the Titan.  
Kana stood there, panting and holding a bleeding shoulder. “There’s fucking Titans everywhere.” She turned and glared at Mizuki who was climbing off of Levi’s shoulders. She trotted over, her hands up.  
“Kana, Kana, Kana!” She sang happily. She made a grabby motion up at her.  
She glared at her weapon and lifted her up. “Why weren’t you answering me?”  
“You were fighting a weapon. I told you, I don’t do that.” Mizuki answered as she erupted into mist and formed as a giant claw down Kana’s arm. This claw had redlines going through it and went all the way up to her shoulder, morphing into a crooked spike off her shoulder blade. It covered up the wound and slowly started to regenerate. “Believe me now?”  
“Yeah, I believe you. There’s more?”  
Everyone watched in shock as another girl walked around Kana and faced the others. She had jagged brown hair and piercing green eyes. She flipped her head and glared at everyone. Her arms were long curved green blades that looked like snake fangs. They suddenly morphed back and she snapped. “Great. You people came into my home and brought fucking Titans with you. Now the place is crumbling and I’m homeless.”  
“Who are you?” Tsuki asked.  
“My name is Demi. I’m a Slayer.” She stated.  
“Whose side are you on?” Levi demanded. “It looks like that cut on Kana’s shoulder was from your blade, not a Titan.”  
Demi licked her lips and growled pleasantly. “We started off on the… wrong foot. But we settled our differences old school. Right now, you guys had better trust me and I’ll trust you. That is if you wanna leave here alive.”  
“First things first.” Kana stated, looking at Tsuki. “You need to activate your weapon as well. We need all the force we can get.”  
“H-how?” Tsuki asked, but her eyes sparkled with excitement.  
Kana started to walk up to her. “Here, I’ll show y – “  
Reiner put his arm up. “No. Tsuki won’t fight. Two Slayers should be more than enough.”  
Kana glared at him and nothing but pure rage burned through her veins. “Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”  
Tsuki touched Reiner’s back. “Reiner… it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”  
“I refuse to let you put yourself in harms way.” Reiner argued.  
“Hey guys, now is not the time for arguing.” Jean stated.  
When Kana went to hit Reiner, Levi grabbed her arm and ordered, “Save your energies for the Titan. We’ll put the block up for now and settle your differences later.”  
Kana gritted her teeth but obeyed.


	45. The Tower

Tsuki was wrapping up Reiner’s arm as she whispered, “I know you want to protect me. But I can protect myself. I want to help everyone fight the Titans. I want Kana to show me how to use my ability.  
“I know you do.” Reiner whispered. “But when I think about you… someone trying to hurt you… I can’t… let it… happen…”  
Tsuki’s gaze was soft and she told him, “You can’t protect me from everything. You have to let me learn to protect myself. I will fight. We all must fight. We can fight together.” She turned his head and softly kissed him. “Together, we can become strong and defeat all the Titans.”  
Reiner’s gaze fell. “Right…”

Kana’s hands were clenching and unclenching with rage. Levi put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you need to relax. Starting a fight within your own squad won’t – “  
“Shut up! You have no idea what’s going on!” Kana snarled at him.  
Levi stared at her but didn’t say anything. Kana snapped, “Instead of concerning yourself with my problems, why don’t you just do what you’re supposed to do and find a way of getting us out of this fucking tower!”  
Leah touched Kana’s arm. “Hey, don’t yell at our Captain like that, you’ll get in troub – “  
“Don’t touch me!” Kana turned, grabbing her friends arm and squeezing. When Leah let out a noise of pain, Kana gasped in horror. She immediately let go. “Leah… I’m sorry…”  
Leah rubbed her arm. “It’s okay. You’re really upset.” Leah frowned. “You can tell me, you know?”  
“How can I tell you that – “ Kana stopped, as something finally dawned on her. She rushed to the window and looked out. From the looks of it, Clay and Mikasa were doing a superb job of wiping out the Titans.  
Mizuki was clinging to the back of her shirt. “Titan.”  
Kana’s eyes widened as a Titan swung its fist up to hit her. Before it did, Clay swung by and cut its hand off while Mikasa came from the other direction and cut open its neck. Kana shouted, “Clay! Tell Eren to transform into a Titan!”  
“Why?” Clay slowed to a stop and hovered upside down, looking at her. “We’re doing fine. Are you guys having trouble in there?”  
“More or less.” Kana growled. “Look, we just need to get out of here as soon as possible…” Her eyes narrowed. If I don’t get out of here soon… I’m going to snap on Reiner…  
“What do you want him to do once he transforms?” Clay asked.  
“We just need him to get the Titans away from the tower so we can get out of here. We can outrun them after that.” Kana explained.  
“Is that really the best plan?” Clay asked. “What do we do with Eren?”  
“I’ll go back for him, we just need to get out of this fucking tower.” Kana snapped.  
Clay sighed. “Alright.” He swung around back towards the top.  
The sound of a loud crashing noise caught all of their attention.

Clay flipped around, hovering over the top of the tower. A boulder had come flying and caved in half of the roof top. He saw the body of the squad leader and a couple squad members underneath the rock. Eren was desperately trying to pull them out, but Ymir and Christa yanked him back, telling him it was helpless.  
Clay landed on the ledge and started to shout something at them when he heard a noise behind him. He whirled around just as a Titan went to grab him. He put his arms up, but Mikasa flew in front of him. “No, Clay!”  
He gasped as the Titan went to grab her instead. A snarl ripped from his throat as he shot passed her and spun, kicking the hand of the Titan back into its face and flipping, landing an even stronger kick to its head, caving its skull in.  
Mikasa gasped in awe. “Clay? How did you – “  
Clay spun in air and grabbed her before flying back to the roof top. “I’m out of gas. I know you’re almost there, too. Pull back. Let’s wait for more orders, alright?”  
Mikasa asked softly, “Clay…? Are you one of the Slayers, too?”  
“No…” Clay answered, landing beside the others as they raced back to the roof. He looked the rest of the squad as they climbed up to the top. He warned, “Be careful. This giant boulder came flying out of nowhere.”  
Tsuki rushed to the edge of the boulder and placed her hands on the person half crushed. “Ah… there’s no saving them.”  
Connie, panicked, shouted, “What the hell do we do? We’re trapped up here.”  
“We’re out of gas.” Mikasa added, glancing at Clay.  
“Ah, looks like its up to us, then.” Demi stated, rolling her shoulders.  
“Who are you?” Hanji demanded.  
“She’s another Slayer.” Jean answered. “We haven’t decided whose side she’s on, but we need her help right now.”  
“Come on, Kana. The sooner we kill these sons of bitches, the sooner I can start looking for a new place to live.” Demi stated. With a smirk, she added, “And you owe me.”  
“You nearly cut my arm off. I think we’re even.” Kana snapped back. She looked at Tsuki. “Call Amaak. Ready to fight?”  
Tsuki jumped to her feet and cheered. “Yeah!” She put her arms up and her little fox jumped off her body and formed on her head. Are you going to use my power?  
“Kana says I am.” Tsuki smiled.  
“Wait, Tsuki!” Reiner got to his feet, but Kana turned and glared at him, her red eyes glowing with malice.  
“Back. Off.” Kana snarled.  
Tsuki trotted up next to Kana and asked, “What do I do?”  
“Your weapon will guide you.” Kana explained. “You have to allow it to consume part of you, alright? Trust it.”  
Tsuki nodded and closed her eyes. Amaak? It’s all you now…  
Amaak jumped into the air and turned into a mist that poured down on Tsuki’s upper half. White metal plates formed along her arms and shoulders. They covered her forearms in gloves with spikes at the elbows. But unlike Kana’s, two wings extended from her back and spread out into the air.  
Tsuki gasped and stumbled a bit. “Whoa… this is so cool!”  
Jean stared at Tsuki in awe. He couldn’t help thinking to himself that she looked just like an angel. Then he noticed something. Tsuki’s weapon was white with blue lines where Kana was black with red lines. The two of them looked like opposites, day and night, sun and moon, good and evil, angel and devil. It was like they were two sides of the same being.  
The shield and sword of a warrior.  
Reiner got to his feet. “Stop. You three can’t think you can take on those Titans yourselves. Hang back, we’ll come up with something.”  
“The longer we hang back, the closer we come to death.” Kana snapped.  
Hanji put her goggles on. “That’s why Levi and I are going to help support them. The rest of you stay up here and try to distract the Titans, but don’t do anything reckless.”  
“Who’s up first?” Demi asked, giggling.  
“Wait! I’ll transform and help you guys!” Eren shouted.  
“Transform? Into what? You’re no Slayer kid.” Demi stated.  
Kana turned to her and explain. “He can turn into a Titan. He’s the only Titan to ever take our side.” Her gaze went to Clay. “Maybe.”  
Clay narrowed his eyes. He didn’t miss it this time. He had thought he’d seen her suspicious glances every now and then, but there was no denying it this time. Somehow, she’d found out the truth.  
“A Titan on our side?” Demi grinned. “Sure I’ll bite.”  
“But no, Eren. Stay back. We can’t risk you getting hurt. We can’t die. You still can.” Kana explained. In the next moment, she, Tsuki, and Demi jumped off the edge.  
Leah watched them, her eyes wide with admiration. “I wish I could help them. They’re so cool.”  
Armin patted her back. “You will. We all help in our own way, Leah.”  
“I guess…” Leah looked down, still wishing she at least had her own weapon. She felt like she was miles behind them.

As soon as Kana jumped, she pushed herself off the wall and over a Titan’s head. It reached up to catch her, but she slid her way between its hands and down its back, cutting out its neck along the way. She turned and used her gear to bring herself back up, but Titans were collapsing all around her.  
She caught a blur that was Demi jumping from head to head. She had no gear on, but was slashing through the Titans like they were nothing but butter. She’d had more experience with this than all of them put together.  
Even Tsuki was doing great. She flew straight down, using her wings instead of her gear. She moved down a larger Titan’s body and cut it off at the feet, causing it to fall on top of smaller Titans. She then finished it off and flew back up.  
“Heads up!”  
Kana and the others looked up when Levi called out and just outside the ruins of the castle, they saw another wave of Titans moving in.  
“Clever bastards.” Kana cursed.  
Demi was on the ground, easily cutting down the little Titans. She shouted up at Kana and Tsuki. “I’ll cripple them from down here. Tsuki, finish off the ones I get. Kana you guard the tower. Keep it from falling.”  
Tsuki and Kana nodded.  
There was a surprising number of incoming Titans. Demi was able to get through several of them, but she kept missing ankles because of how fast they were running towards the tower. A couple of them trampled her, but like the Slayer she was, she kept swinging through.  
Tsuki slashed, focusing mostly on the Titans that were still unharmed. She cut through several of them, but a couple hands came up at once. She dodged one, but was caught by the leg by the other. She let out a scream of pain as pressure consumed her leg.  
Kana pushed off the building to save her, but two blurs moved around her too quickly. Levi and Hanji cut either side of the Titan’s wrist, causing it to release Tsuki and she flew around, quickly finishing it off. To her surprise, Levi had kept moving, cutting through four or five more before even pausing.  
Holy crap. He might even be better than a Slayer.  
The battle continued for some time like that, and the Titan bodies were piling up. Kana had finished cutting up one Titan and flipped off, reeling herself back to the wall. Once she was there, she realized that her gas had completely run out. “Fuck.”   
A Titan came around the tower and held its hand out to smash her. She started to undo the belts of her gear but she wasn’t fast enough. Two arms came around her own and lifted her into the air before the Titan’s hand crashed down where she had been. She looked up at Tsuki who grinned down at her. “I saved your life this time.”  
“Thanks…” Kana looked down, seeing Hanji and Levi focusing on the Titan’s that Demi was crippling. “Drop me here.” She ordered.  
Tsuki did as she was told and Kana flipped in the air, her weapon moving to wrap around her feet. The metal that covered her boots had sharp points to them, so when she came down and kicked a Titan, it cut open its neck. She bounced off that Titan and went on to the next. She went for its neck at the same as Levi did, both of them cutting it open.  
They both propelled off either shoulder and went on to more Titans. After a bit, she noticed Levi’s movements were slowing down and she realized he was favoring his left leg. He landed on the side tower to catch his breath and she saw him grip his leg in pain. A Titan was right behind him.  
Kana snarled. “Tsuki!”  
Without even an exchange of words, Tsuki saw what happened. She grabbed Kana and threw her through the air as hard as she could. Kana spun in the air and Mizuki shifted back to the clawed gloves on her hands. As she spun, she flew over Levi, cutting the head of the Titan clear off and landed beside him. “Go back to the tower and watch over the others.”  
“I’m fine.” Levi snapped at her. “You’re out of gas and its only a matter of time before the others tire. We need to by all the time we can.”  
“I’m not asking!” Kana snarled. “You’re in the way here, go back to the tower!”  
Levi’s eyes widened and he gritted his teeth. Reluctantly, he stood and used his gear to reel himself back in to the other tower where the others were watching with wide eyes.  
Hanji met him over there and landed, panting, “I’m out of gas, now too.”  
“Yeah…” Levi mumbled, looking over at the girls still fighting.


	46. Worn

Demi ran between the legs of some of the incoming Titans. She was easily able to cut out the ankles, but she couldn’t get up high enough to give them a finishing shot. When she went in for one of the shorter ones, a larger one came up behind her and landed a solid kick right to her chest. A scream of pain left her throat as she was hurtled through the air and hit Tsuki on her way. Both of them slammed into the tower and fell to a lump on the ground.  
Kana rushed to them. “Are you alright?”  
When they sat up and nodded, Kana pressed, “There’s too many Titans to keep fighting like this. We need to just lure them away from the tower.”  
“That the best idea you got?” Demi asked. “Let’s be the bait? Huh? That it?”  
“Do you have something better!?” Kana demanded.

“What do we do!?” Leah asked. “They’re tired, they’re gonna get eaten…”  
Reiner started to heave himself over the ledge, but Connie and Sasha pulled him back. “Stop!” They ordered. “You can’t help them!”  
“We can’t let them die! Tsuki!!” Reiner shouted as loud as he could.  
“Fine.” Ymir walked to the edge, pulling out a knife. “If no one else will do anything…” Christa let out a scream when Ymir jumped over the edge.  
Eren ran after her. “No!” He jumped off and bit into his thumb, letting out a shout of protest as he descended. 

Kana, Tsuki, and Demi stared up in awe. “No… way…” Tsuki mumbled.  
Between them and the oncoming Titans were two. Kana recognized the bigger one as Eren’s Titan, but the smaller one was unfamiliar to her. She got to her feet. “Be careful, Eren! But kick some ass!”  
Demi looked at Kana in disbelief. “You’re telling me these are the Titans on our side?”  
“The one of the left is Eren, the other one, I don’t know.” Kana informed, but her eyes darkened. There was a chance it could be either Reiner or Burt, but she didn’t know. It didn’t seem like it to her.   
The two Titans tore down the others one by one, even as they piled up. After some time, Eren reached down to them and the three hopped onto his hand. He set them on his shoulder and he backed up to the tower. Kana yelled, “Hop on if you wanna live, guys!”  
One by one they all climbed on. After everyone was secured, Eren stepped away from the tower. The smaller Titan ripped out the bricks at midway, causing the tower to collapse on the rest of the Titans. It jumped out of the way and on to Eren’s head. Hanji ordered Eren, “Get us as close to the wall as you can. We’ll have to hoof it the rest of the way. If you head straight that direction, there’s another camp we can park at and rest until we’re ready to make it the rest of the way.”  
Eren nodded and started his march towards the wall.  
Tsuki collapsed, Amaak falling into her lap. He tipped his head, For your first time using my abilities, you did an exquisite job. I now know that I made the right decision in accepting you as my weilder.  
Tsuki blushed. “Aw thanks, Amaak. I was seriously scared, but after a while, I realized how natural it felt.”  
Reiner sat down beside Tsuki and asked, “Are you injured at all?”  
Tsuki shook her head. “Nope. I’m just fine.” She started to get up. “I’ll be right back though, I’m gonna make sure that Kana’s injury is healing properly.” Before she could go anywhere, Reiner grabbed her hand. “What’s wrong?”  
“Please… don’t…” Reiner whispered. “Stay here, beside me for just a little longer, okay?”  
Kana was glaring at Tsuki and Reiner, having heard the conversation. Every time she heard that bastard speak she felt her rage return anew. Fighting the Titans had released some of her pent up anger, but it wasn’t nearly enough. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she killed someone.  
“Hey.” Levi casually sat down beside Kana, his eyes brushing over her shoulder wound.   
Kana snapped at him. “What do you want?”  
He looked at her a minute before looking away. “You’ve become pretty cold recently. I see you’re still mad.”  
“Of course I’m still mad!” Kana yelled at him. “Give me one reason I have to not be pissed off right now!”  
“No one in our squad died.” Levi commented. “I didn’t fail this time.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and she looked away. What was wrong with her? Why was she taking all of her frustration with everyone else out on him? Was she really even mad? Or was there something else that she couldn’t feel and she was covering it up with rage?  
“Kana, I – “ Levi started to reach towards her when someone called his name.  
Hanji leaned down between them and stated, “Captain, I think we should station ourselves at the midway camp for tonight. Everyone is exhausted and there’s an underground facility. It’ll be best for everyone if we can just ensure we don’t run into anymore Titans.”  
“Alright.” Levi agreed. “Lead Eren there.”  
“Yessir.” Hanji squeaked and trotted over to Eren’s ear to tell him.

“I can’t wait to get home.” Tsuki stated. “I wanna sleep in my own bed.” She giggled as she flopped onto her blanket on the floor. “Maybe drink some hot coacoa… cuddle up with my man…”  
“Oh you’re living the luxury life, huh?” Leah teased. “That does sound good.” She closed her eyes. “Armin and I could lay out on the roof and watch the stars.”  
“Aw… how romantic…” Tsuki giggled back. “You’re so cute.”  
Hanji chuckled, “You girls sure seem like you’re happy.”  
“How could we not be?” Tsuki giggled into her pillow. “You saw how protective Reiner is of me… I never have to worry about being in danger. He’s always there for me.”  
“Yeah. And Armin worries about me so much.” Leah blushed. “He may not be very strong… but he sure has a big heart. It makes me happy.”  
“Hey Mikasa, does Clay take good care of you?” Tsuki asked loudly.  
Mikasa gasped, her cheeks turning a bright red. “Wh-Why would you ask something like that so suddenly?”  
“Well, we see you two together all the time.” Leah stated. “But never together.”  
Tsuki gave her a dirty look and scooted over to her blanket. “Hey yeah. Is he gentle in bed?”  
Mikasa let out a squeal and hid herself under the bed. Leah threw her pillow at Tsuki and yelled, “Don’t ask pervy questions like that!”  
“Hey hey.” Tsuki laughed, tossing it back. “I just wanna know more about our mysterious friend. We don’t know anything about his past and he’s never willing to open up about it.” She looked back at the lump of blanket that was Mikasa. “Has he told you anything about himself?”  
Mikasa poked her head out. “No… just that his family was killed. I think it bothers him more than he lets on.”  
“So he tries to put on the tough guy act?” Leah asked. “No wonder he’s so quiet about it. His façade will crack if he gets emotional.”  
Tsuki laughed out loud suddenly. “Okay, note to self, try to find Clay’s soft mushy side. Everyone who acts tough has one. Mikasa, you’ll help me right?”  
“What!?” Mikasa shook her head. “No, Tsuki, just let him be.”  
Tsuki pressed her cheek to hers and very girlishly teased, “Oh you know you wanna see it to. Don’t you want the satisfaction of being the only one he opens up to and shows his soft side to? It’s the most intimate thing that can happen in a relationship. You don’t want another girl to snag him do you?”  
All the girls in the room started throwing things at Tsuki and telling her to leave the poor girl along. Tsuki just laughed and went back to her blanket. She noticed all the girls threw something at her except Kana. Kana was just staring blankly at the ceiling. “Oh hey. We haven’t harassed Kana. When the hell are you going to get yourself a boyfriend?”  
After a long silence, Tsuki grumbled and walked over. She dropped down, sitting on Kana’s stomach and started beating her with a pillow. “Hey! Are you listening to me!?”  
“What the hell!?” Kana snarled and threw her hand up, ripping the pillow in half with the force. Kana gasped and stared at the feathers that flew everywhere. Tsuki stared at her in shock. Kana asked, “What do you want, Tsuki?”  
“I was just gonna tease you.” Tsuki stated, catching a feather that flew towards her. “We’re all chattin it up about our boyfriends. When are you going to get one?”  
“The last thing I’m concerned about is a boyfriend.” Kana growled.  
“Isn’t there at least a guy you like?” Tsuki asked.  
When Kana blushed, Tsuki gasped, “There is! Oh my god, who!? Is it Jean? Eren? Burt?”  
Leah crawled over and gave her a suspicious look. “Or is it someone who already has a girlfriend and that’s why you won’t tell us?”  
“What no, no no!” Kana pushed Tsuki off of her and sat up. “It’s nothing like that.”  
“Then who!” Leah yelled. “Everyone knows everyone. We’ll keep it a secret!”  
Hanji wrapped her arms around Kana’s neck from behind and whispered, “Listen to the devil in your head. Give in and admit your hearts deepest desires.”  
“Guys, leave me alone.” Kana ordered. “There’s no one I like! I just blushed because it was such an embarrassing question.”  
“We have to know!” Leah insisted.  
“I said back off.” Kana gasped at her own voice and stood up suddenly. Everyone was staring at her in shock and she quickly excused herself from the room.  
“I think we made her mad.” Tsuki stated, frowning.  
“Sounds like a forbidden romance to me.”  
Everyone looked at Demi when she spoke up. Demi rolled her eyes and explained, “Oh come on. Not only did she deny the identity of the person, she denied there being a person she was interested in. That means it’s not just some girl wanting all the drama and attention focused on her, it means she was trying to eliminate the reason for the curiosity. This means she didn’t want any of you trying to figure out who it was. This can only mean that there’s a reason you guys can’t know. Which takes me to my earlier statement. It’s someone she’s not supposed to have a relationship with. Maybe she’s gay and it’s a girl? Or maybe a supervisor that a relationship could get them into trouble. Or maybe she’s really awkward and it’s a family member. Ew weird. Change of subject.”  
Tsuki and Leah looked at each other. Tsuki whispered, “She’s totally gay. I so called it.”  
Leah looked down. “I don’t know… Maybe its…”  
“It’s…?” Tsuki pressed.  
“Never mind.” Leah laughed. “I’m blowing things way out of proportion.”


	47. Secrets

Kana stormed down the hall to the stairs that led up the ground level floor and out the front door. She needed fresh air. She needed away from these people. Her patience was out, gone, none. She was just about to the last step when she heard a voice in the darkness.  
“Do not go up there.”  
She sighed heavily. Of course. “Look. I just need to get some fresh air. I won’t be gone but five minutes, and I won’t even wander off.”  
“No.”  
“I don’t need baby sitting!” Kana yelled. “I can take care of myself and make decisions for myself! Stop trying to boss me around!”  
“I’m bossing you around because I’m your Captain. You don’t get special treatment.”  
“Yeah, we both know that’s a load of bullshit.” Kana snapped, turning and glaring at Levi who was sitting at the table. He was sipping at a cup, not even looking at her. “How many times have you broken the rules for me and no one else?”  
He remained quiet. Kana scoffed. “That’s what I thought.” She started back up the stairs when his voice cut her off again.  
“I mean it, Kana. Do not go up there. I don’t want to have to force you.” Levi ordered with finality.  
“You can’t force me.” Kana growled. “No one can.” She went up one more step.  
This time, Levi shouted, angrily. “Is your rage so great that you want to endanger yourself as well? Be pissed off at me all you want, fine. I deserve it. I let you down. I get it. But do not, do not, think that going up there alone will solve any of your problems. Immortal or not you’ll be endangering yourself and luring Titans here. I won’t allow you to use your rage at me as an excuse to hurt yourself.”  
Kana turned towards him suddenly. She was so furious that she wanted to scream at him. She wanted to call him any name that came to mind. She wanted to be a child and throw a tantrum. But it dawned on her. It wasn’t him she was mad at. It never was. She wasn’t mad. She wasn’t enraged. She wasn’t furious, pissed, anything. She was…  
Every stressed out bone in her body finally gave way. “Rage… at you?” Her legs gave out under her and Levi shot out of his chair and caught her before she hit the ground. “I’m not mad at you. I don’t hate you. I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean… Levi… I don’t why I took it out on you. I’m not mad at you… I never was.” She pressed her face to his shoulder as all the stress that had been building up inside of her erupted into an outpouring of tears.  
Levi collapsed to his knees, still holding onto her as tight as he could. His eyes were wide when he listened to her but then he pressed his face to her hair. “Oh thank god…” He breathed her in before continuing, “When they told me… that Wall Rose had fallen… all I could think about was the promise I made to you. I tried to get to the wall. I tried to save them. Erwin wouldn’t let go. He said it was too dangerous and that saving one family would lead to protest and rioting from civilians who weren’t privileged. I didn’t care how much sense it made… but he distracted me. He told me that they were arresting you for treason, for hiding your powers. By the time I was able to calm down, it was too late. There was nothing I could do. I was so mad at myself. I knew that I’d let you down. And when you asked me… when you found out… it felt like my world had fallen apart. Kana… you have every right to be mad at me. I know that. I accepted that. But it doesn’t change the fact that… I… I don’t want you to hate me… I can’t handle it. I’ve lost so much… I can’t lose you as well.”  
Kana gripped the back of his jacket and whispered, “I never once blamed you. I know that you did everything in your power. I don’t know… why I was acting so mad at you. I’ve had so much on my mind and I just…”  
She started to pull back but Levi cupped the back of her head. “You disguise your emotions behind anger and action. Just like I do. There’s not much else a soldier can do. When you watch your comrades falling around you, you can’t stop and morn their loss.” He hesitated, remembering how he’d failed to do so when he’d seen Kana’s body after the Female Titan had caught her. “You have to turn that sadness and fear into anger at the enemy, into fuel to keep fighting.”  
“But I didn’t take it out on my enemy… I took it out on you.” Kana pressed her face to his neck, her body quivering with sobs.  
“Is there a reason you couldn’t take it out on your enemy?” Levi asked.  
Kana’s eyes widened. Reiner and Burt. She couldn’t take action against them for fear of losing her siblings. She couldn’t find the will to challenge Clay about his status, because she wasn’t sure if he knew or what his reaction would be. “Yeah… there is…”  
Levi softly asked, “Kana, what’s going on? Tell me the truth, all of it. Starting with your arm that night.”  
Kana tried her hardest to catch her breath, but her voice cracked as she spoke. “The night I spent in that cell… I was visited… by two more Titans.”  
Levi’s eyes widened and she continued, “They know where my family is. They’re threatening to kill them if I reveal what I know, or train Tsuki. I have to figure out what the hell I’m going to do before it’s too late. I have to find them, Levi.”  
“When we get back, I’ll talk to Erwin about taking a squad out.” He stated. “If we take just you and the other Slayers, we won’t have to worry about casualties.”  
Kana gripped his shirt. “Do you forget that you’re still capable of dying, Levi?”  
Levi smirked just the slightest bit. “Sometimes you cause me to forget, yes.”  
Kana closed her eyes and relaxed against him. “We can do anything…” Before she knew it, her breathing slowed and she’d fallen asleep.

Demi giggled from where she was, watching Kana and Levi from the hall. “I told them. I’m never wrong.” She turned and started back to the girls room when she bumped into someone. “Ouch, hello?”  
Eren glared at her. “What are you doing?”  
“Oh, I was gonna sneak out, but your guard is exceptional.” Demi mocked. She started pushing Eren back, laughing. “But I’m going back to bed and you should too, haha.”  
Eren paused, not letting her push him any further. He asked, “You’re a Slayer, too, right?”  
She nodded so he asked as well, “Then are going to come back with us and join the Survey Corps?”  
“Uhm. I don’t know…” Demi admitted. “I’m not sure that’s my scene.”  
“Why!? You’d be a great addition to our squads. You’re exceptionally talented.” Eren stated.  
“You sure you want someone like me fighting with you?”  
“You say that like there’s something wrong with you…”  
Demi blushed and then looked away. “Just forget it.” She walked around him and to the girls room.

Kana rolled over, yawning as she opened her eyes the next morning. As soon as she cleared her vision, she saw Demi staring down at her with a devious smile. Kana asked, “What?”  
“I know.”  
“Know what?” Kana asked, sitting up.  
“I saw you and your secret man last night.” Demi teased. “No wonder you keep it a secret. The entire Survey Corps would have a problem if they found out that Humanity’s strongest fighter was having intimate relations with someone on his own squad.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and she shot up and covered her mouth. “Shut up!”  
Demi laughed against her hand, “Calm down. I won’t tell no one. Everyone’s still asleep right now. Levi brought you back in here a bit ago.”  
Kana glared at her. “You’re going to blackmail me, aren’t you?”  
“No. I’m going to use you.” Demi stated with a giggle. “Get me into the Survey Corps and I won’t tell anyone.”


	48. The End (1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is designed to be chaotic, frantic, and fast paced. If you, as the reader, find it hard to keep up, don't be discouraged - that's the point :)

Christa was trying to convince Hanji that Ymir was on their side. Right now, she was in hand cuffs and bound, under guard by some of the Garrison who’d met up with their squads at the wall.  
Leah and Armin were sitting with Mikasa and Clay, talking about what had happened and what they should do.  
Eren, Demi, Tsuki, Reiner, and Burtholdt were at the walls edge, talking about the close calls in the tower.  
Kana was pacing impatiently back and forth while Levi scolded her about getting worked up.  
The rest of the squads were scattered along the wall, keeping watch for more Titans.  
Mizuki was chasing around Amaak when Kana scolded, “Will you leave that poor thing alone?”  
Amaak sat down. Actually, its nice exercise. I don’t mind.  
Kana rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”  
Hanji walked up to Levi. “Since there’s no breach in the wall, we can’t progress any further in the mission. Which means that we’ll just have to sit around on standby for further orders.”  
“Erwin hasn’t made any further reports?” Levi asked. “He’s keeping us waiting again. Useless bastard. He knows I’m not a patient person.”  
Kana had started out listening to their conversation, but her gaze drifted elsewhere. Reiner and Eren had been talking for a bit, but then Burt shouted something and they had gone quiet. For a moment she relaxed, but then…  
Reiner touched Tsuki’s shoulders and she could barely make out the words, “Please forgive me…” He picked her up and threw her in Kana’s direction. Kana gasped and ran forward, catching her friend.  
Tsuki sat up out of Kana’s arms and yelled, “What the hell, Reiner, that wasn’t funny!”  
Before Kana could do or say anything, the worst happened.  
Reiner and Burt bit into their hands and in a huge explosion of mist, they all stood in awe, facing the Colossal and Armored Titans. When the mist cleared, everyone was in shock but Tsuki was trembling. “What… is this… Reiner?”  
Kana picked her up. “Tsuki, look at me. Get a hold of yourself.” She ordered gently. “If you don’t get your ass in gear we’re going to – “ She gasped when Reiner turned and jumped off the wall. Burt raised his humongous arm and swung towards them, going to wipe them all out at once. Kana shouted to everyone, “Get off the wall! Now!”  
At the very last minute, everyone was hanging off the edge, looking up at the destroyed top of the wall.  
Mizuki scrambled around Levi’s shoulders, shouting, “Kana! Kana! Kana!!!”  
Mikasa shook her head free of the rubble that had fallen and looked around. Clay was no where to be seen. She looked up and reeled herself back to the top. He was just sitting there, right where he was. “Clay! Get up! The Titans – “  
“I know…” Clay mumbled, looking over at Reiner and Burt. “They jumped the gun…” He mumbled.  
Mikasa stared at him in shock. “Clay…? What are you mumbling about? Are you alright?”  
Hanji shouted at everyone. “All of you! Prepare for battle!” All at once, the men started reeling themselves up to the top of the walls and flying around Burt.  
Kana had a hold of a limp Tsuki in her arm. “Tsuki, listen to me. I know you’re shocked, but you have to pull yourself together, okay?”  
“He’s not… like this, though…” Tsuki trembled. “That isn’t Reiner! He would never do this! This is all some trick!”  
“No it’s not, Tsuki! You have to accept it!” Kana yelled. “Reiner lied to you!”  
Leah grabbed a hold of Christa when she tried running at the great Titan after it picked up Ymir and another soldier, throwing them in his mouth. She told her, “Stop! We’ll fight it together, okay?”  
Christa shook her head, shouting, “Ymir! Give her back!”  
Burt looked down the wall at Kana and Tsuki. His massive hand reached out to them. Kana snarled and jumped up, flipping into the air and landing on the top of the wall again. “You son of a bitch! Mizuki!” Kana shouted, but she got no response. Where had that girl gone now? Burt’s hand came around, but she used her gear to reel herself up to his chest and out of his reach. She landed on his shoulder, but his other hand was already there. It smacked her and sent her flying back across the wall where she dropped Tsuki.  
Tsuki trembled, slowly starting to get up. “Kana, we can’t kill them. We have to find out why they’re doing this…”  
Kana looked up as Burt’s hand descended on them again. She went back to where Tsuki was and jumped up, using her body to block the hand from smashing down on them. Kana gasped in agony when she felt all of the Titan’s strength press down on her. She gritted her teeth and dropped to her knees, feeling her bones breaking one by one. Kana ordered hoarsely. “Tsukiko… get up… get out of the way…”  
Tsuki stared at her in awe. She climbed out from under Burt’s hand and yelled at him. “Burtholdt! Why are you doing this!? We’re your friends!”  
Burt scooped her up in his other hand, lifting off of Kana and lifted Tsukiko up to his face, staring at her. Tsukiko relaxed and said, “See, you don’t want to hurt me. I knew you didn’t. Transform back and lets all talk, okay? Everyone thinks you’re the enemy.”  
Kana screamed, “TSUKIKO!!!”  
Tsuki’s eyes widened when she realized Burt was opening his mouth and threw her towards it. She let out a scream, but a blur flew by, catching her before she landed in the mouth. Jean landed and set Tsuki down out of Burt’s reach. “Tsukiko, are you okay?”  
Tsuki was crying. “How could they…?”  
Jean frowned, but he wasn’t sure what to do. “I’m sorry… We’ll catch them and get answers, okay?”

Hanji and Levi were leading the rest of the squads in on Burt from behind. In a combined effort, they were all closing in on the nape of his neck. “He’s too slow!” Hanji yelled, “We’ll take him out in one shot!”  
Levi, being faster than the others, closed in much more quickly on Burt’s neck. He drew his swords and readied for a spin to cut out his neck when the Titan let out a roar and a huge mass of steam exploded around him and engulfed all the soldiers. He was overcome by the heat and felt his skin burning before he was hit from another direction and knocked back out of the steam.  
Hanji looked around at the soldiers that were all dropping their swords, their hands burned from the heat of the Titan. She looked back up, seeing that Burt was now covered in a layer of flames that prevented them from being able to attack him. “Dammit.”  
She looked down closer to the Titan and saw two more bodies. She gasped and ran over, kneeling to the first one. Kana was laying on her stomach but from what Hanji could see, most of her body was burned, badly. She looked over, seeing Levi shifting and slowly getting up.  
She rushed to him and asked, “Are you alright, Captain?”  
His eyes widened and he looked past Hanji and at Kana. He shot up and rushed to her. “Kana!”  
Hanji told him, “It looks like most of her body is fried. She’s totally unconscious right now.” Levi started looking around, for the first time ever, he seemed frantic. “Captain?”  
“Where is Mizuki?”  
“The little one?” Hanji looked around. “I don’t see her.”

Mikasa stared at Clay in shock. “Why are you just sitting there? C-Clay?”  
Clay lifted his water bottle up, trying to get the last few drinks out of it, but there was nothing more than a drop left. He grumbled and cursed under his breath as Burt slammed his arm down a few feet behind them, sending rubble flying everywhere.  
The impact created a burst of wind that nearly knocked Mikasa off the top of the wall, but Clay easily caught her with one arm. He ordered her, “Why don’t you stay back for a while? Everyone needs to get out of the reach of the Colossal Titan.”  
Mikasa gripped his jacket. “Clay, what is going on with you!? Talk to me! You can tell me.”  
Clay mussed her hair and kissed her softly. “Just stay back, alright? I don’t want you to get hurt.”  
“C-Clay?”

Eren gritted his teeth, looking up at the top of the wall. The smoke was just starting to clear when he saw the Armored Titan jump off and down to the ground. Eren’s arm tightened around Demi who was dangling off the wall with him.  
Demi hissed, “Wow, I could use that fancy maneuver gear you guys have…” She looked down at the Titan that landed on the ground and was now climbing up to where they were hanging. “Drop me off up top.”  
“What if you get caught up? Without gear you won’t be able to protect yourself.” Eren argued, gasping when Reiner swung to grab him, but he flipped out of the way and swung back up to the top of the wall. He looked over at some of the fallen soldiers and his stomach knotted up. “We could get you some gear…”  
Demi frowned but nodded. “I’ll get it.” She told him, trotting over to the nearest dead body. She started prying the belts off of the soldier when she heard a loud booming noise. Just behind her and Eren, Reiner had jumped back up to the top of the wall. She hurried through the belts as Eren reeled himself up towards the Titan’s face. Reiner tried to grab him, but he flipped out of the way and swung around. He tried to cut the back of his neck, but the armor was too strong and his swords broke.  
Landing back beside Demi, he cursed. “Okay… we need something stronger than our swords.”  
Demi looked back at him. “Sarthis could cut through it. But I’ll need to be able to get up to its neck.”  
Eren gasped and scooped Demi up, narrowly jumping out of the way when Reiner swung his fist down where they had been. He crushed the corpse they’d taken the gear from. Eren cursed again, “He’s not giving me a chance to turn into a Titan or I could buy you time…”

“We can’t attack the Colossal Titan while he’s like that.” Armin stated. “So we need to focus our attention on Reiner right now.”  
“But if we completely turn our backs on Burt…” Leah commented.  
“We won’t turn our back on him.” Armin stated. “We’ll keep soldiers down here on look-out.”  
“Everyone is so scattered.” Hanji stated. “Coming up with a plan right now, is impossible. We can’t organize our soldiers like this.”  
Leah frowned, looking at Tsuki who was still on her knees, staring at the ground, her eyes were wide with horror. She had never seen her friend like this. Kana and her had taken their fair share of freezes in battle, but even from the beginning it was her and Clay who could fight through anything without any hesitation. But even Clay was…  
Her gaze went up to Clay who was standing still on the edge of the wall. He wasn’t moving either. He wasn’t fighting or helping or anything. He just stood there. Judging from Mikasa’s expression, something was seriously wrong.  
But she didn’t need any verification for that. Everything was wrong right now.

Tsuki’s hands clenched into fists and her breathing grew heavier and heavier. She felt nauseated. What was going on? What was happening? It couldn’t be what she thought.  
Reiner would never betray her, would he?


	49. The End (2)

Two soldiers swung by and tried to cut the back of Reiner’s neck, but all the swords broke. Armin gritted his teeth and said to Hanji, “As I expected. We can’t get through that armor. If we have any hopes of defeating them, we have to break his shell first.”  
Hanji nodded. “The only way to get Burt to move is to attack Reiner. We have to get him to let down that barrier of flames. So first things first is slowing down Reiner.” Her gaze was on him swinging at Demi and Eren. It was obvious from his movements that he was trying to capture Eren, not kill him. Maybe they could use him as bait?  
“We need a Slayer with a weapon to break the armor.” Leah stated. “But Tsuki… she still won’t react. She won’t move. Her shock at Reiner’s betrayal is too fresh. And Kana…” She looked up to where her friends body was still laying on the wall. “She hasn’t started to heal. I don’t know why.”  
Hanji frowned. “And I’ve tried getting the Captain to help but he won’t move from her side.” She looked around. “We have a lot of soldiers down from shock. It’s hard to believe that so many of our own can betray us this way.”  
Jean walked up on the other side of Hanji. “So if Tsuki and Kana are both out, then what hope do we have of taking down Reiner.” His hands clenched on his weapons. “He’s betrayed us. I won’t let him get away.”  
“Demi is the only other Slayer with a weapon… since mine hasn’t shown up yet.” Leah explained. “She’s our last hope. But she doesn’t have gear and Reiner is too big to attack from the ground. Especially with so little space to work with.”  
Armin glared at Reiner. “We need to get his attention away from Eren and Demi. Then maybe either Demi can get gear on, or Eren can get her to her target.”  
“Okay!” Leah, Jean, and Hanji shouted together. They charged for Reiner, using their gear to hook on to three different parts of Reiner’s body. Leah reeled herself towards Reiner’s face. She crossed right in front of his eyes and out of instinct, he swatted at her like a fly. But as his hand came up, Hanji swung on around and sliced off his fingers.  
Leah spun in the air and saw that Jean was going around from the other side. He had his swords raised to cut off the fingers on his other hand, but Reiner moved out of the way and turned, going to hit him but Connie whizzed by and knocked him out of the way.  
Reiner’s hand wrapped around Connie’s body and in an explosion of blood, the small boy was gone.  
Jean’s eyes widened in horror, some of the blood splashing onto his face. “C-Connie?”  
Leah let out a scream of fear and flew blindly at Reiner. “He was your friend, too!” Reiner turned, about to grab her when Armin whizzed by and pulled her out of the way before she, too, was crushed.  
Leah, Armin, and Hanji all landed next to Eren and Demi. Armin panted, “Demi… do you have that gear on yet? We need you to break that armor.”  
“I know.” Demi growled, trying to get the last couple belts. Hurriedly, Eren started to buckled together the other side and adjusted the tightness to fit her. A roar made them look up to see that Reiner was bringing his two fists down on the group.  
“I thought he wouldn’t want to kill Eren!” Armi gasped.  
“Looks like he doesn’t care anymore!” Hanji yelled. “Now get a move on!” She pushed them out of the way, but the fists were coming down too fast.  
A blur of black flew between them and between Reiner’s legs. Both insides of his knees were chopped out and he collapsed to the ground. Everyone who’d been standing there was able to move before he came crashing down.  
Leah ran up to Mikasa, shouting, “Thanks Mikasa! You’re a life saver. Where’s Clay?”  
Mikasa pointed to the ledge where Clay still hadn’t moved. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He keeps mumbling about something… but… he won’t fight. He won’t even move. I’m… worried about him.”  
Leah frowned. “Hopefully he snaps out of his stupor soon.” She looked back, her eyes bright with hope when she saw Demi running up the Armored Titan’s back and to his neck. “Go Demi!!”  
Demi jumped over Reiner’s hand when it came up to grab her and pull her away from his neck. She did a flip in the air and kept running. She held her arms out and shouted, “Sarthis!!” Her arms turned into the long curved green blades from before and she slashed both of them down into the white plated armor.  
Just before they met with his skin, the massive Titan shifted and suddenly entered a summersault. Demi let out a shout, but too late, the Titan rolled over the top of her and left her broken body pressed into the broken wall under her. She coughed up blood. “Son of a bitch…”  
Eren’s eyes widened and he ran forward. “Demi!” He bit into his thumb and in a moment, exploded into his full Titan form. He stood on top of the wall, facing Reiner who was slowly getting back up to his feet.  
Armin yelled up at him. “By us time until Demi heals!”  
Hanji kneeled to Demi while Eren attacked Reiner. She asked, “How bad are you?”  
“Broken ribs.” Demi coughed blood again. “They cut into my heart and lungs. I’ll be back up in a few minutes.”  
Eren and Reiner were exchanging punches and kicks, but the stalemate wasn’t making any progress. Several soldiers all swooped in to help and try to distract him, but Reiner just easily killed them without even shredding his attention.  
Eren, thinking he found an opening, went in for a punch, but Reiner caught his arm and flipped him over on the wall. When he landed on his back, Eren let out a roar, but Reiner slammed his foot into his face, smashing it into the wall. Slowly, Reiner leaned down to pull Eren out of the Titan.  
Leah and Armin let out shouts of protest. Before his fingers wrapped around Eren’s real body, Jean flew around and sliced deeply into his wrist, causing the hand to go limp. Jean spun around on the ground and started reeling himself back up, but before he knew it, Reiner slammed his foot down on him, splattering his body under the heel of his foot.  
Leah and Armin screamed. Both of them charged for Reiner but Hanji grabbed them and pulled them back. “Stop! You can’t just run blindly in! You’ll be killed!”  
Leah felt tears burn her eyes. “B-But Jean…!”  
All of them stared as Reiner slowly turned towards them after putting Eren in his mouth. He leaned down, getting ready to run like he did the day he broke through the second gate of Wall Maria. Hanji started pushing everyone. “Move!”  
Leah hesitated. “But what about – “  
Before they knew it, Reiner was running right at them. In two quick steps, he was just about to land on top of them. Leah and Armin let out screams of terror and Hanji threw them to try and get them out of the way.  
In the same moment, a green flash whizzed around, cutting Reiner’s foot clear off. Demi spun in air and shot herself back up to his neck. She spun and broke open the armor from his neck and she continued on up into the air. “He’s exposed!!”   
Hanji rushed around, hooking her gear to Reiner’s neck and swinging up. She readied her swords to deal the final blow, but Reiner suddenly ducked down and Hanji flew on over his head. Her eyes were wide as she stared down at him. “I… missed…”  
She gasped when she hit something and her body suddenly felt like it was melting. She screamed in agony as her skin started burning and she was enclosed completely in the fist of the Colossal Titan before being crushed.  
Burt opened his hand, letting her body parts fall to the ground.  
Armin and Leah kept running, putting distance on the Armored Titan. Leah shrieked, “Even Hanji-san has been killed!”  
Mikasa grabbed both of their hands and yelled, “Don’t look! Just survive! Armin, think of something. We need a way out.” She glanced back, seeing Demi reeling herself around, trying to get back to Reiner’s neck, but the great Titan wouldn’t let her get anywhere near his neck again.

Tsuki’s horrified eyes watched the blood splatters all over the wall. How many people at died? Because of Reiner and Burt? How many had they betrayed? Why? And for what?  
Tears raced down her cheeks.  
What in the hell was going on?


	50. The End (3)

Levi stared at Kana’s limp form. Mizuki hadn’t returned. Time was ticking by and Kana still wasn’t healing.  
Something was wrong.  
He kept looking up, watching for Mizuki to show up somewhere. Where had she gone? Last he’d known, she had been climbing on his shoulders, but then she was just gone. He looked around for the first time and saw how few soldiers were still alive.  
He should be helping them. Every time he got the will to go, he took another look at Kana and lost all of his strength. The Colossal Titan let out a roar and shifted. From the fire, a very tiny movement caught his eye.  
Mizuki was crawling slowly away from Burt. Levi’s eyes widened and he rushed to her. “Mizuki!” He shouted as loud as he could. Mizuki let out a suffering whimper and raised her tiny hand out.  
Tears were racing down her cheeks as she hoarsely whimpered, “It hurts… Help… please…”  
Levi ran to her as fast as his legs would carry him. He had only knocked out about three quarters of the distance between them when the Colossal’s fist slammed down on her tiny form. Levi froze in place, his eyes wide and his breath lost in his throat. When the massive hand raised, blood and pieces of the child’s body dripped back to the ground.  
Nothing remained but the pool of blood and broken limbs.  
For a moment, he was in complete shock. What had just happened? Mizuki’s words rang through his head.  
“The way a Slayer’s ability works is that they recover themselves by borrowing the life-force of their weapon. If their weapon is incapacitated, it’s the same as being human again.”  
“Mizuki…” Levi stuttered a moment before looking back at Kana. Suddenly every feeling in his body was on overdrive. “Kana… no!” He rushed back to her and picked her up, shouting, “Get up! You’re not dead! Kana!” He kept screaming, but when he pressed his ear to her chest, there was no heartbeat. It was really happening.  
This time, she was really gone.  
“Kana!” He screamed over and over.  
The Armored Titan was running towards them. Levi grunted when he was slammed from the side, scooped up by Demi as she flew away from the armored Titan. The next second she had pulled him away, he trampled over Kana’s lifeless body.  
He shouted her name again, his eyes wide with disbelief. Demi set him down along with the rest of the group. Leah and Armin had picked up Tsuki and moved her away, out of the Titan’s path.  
Reiner stopped his rampage, seeing all of the remaining soldiers were surrounding Tsuki.  
Demi panted. “You were right, Armin. That bought us a couple moments breather. He still doesn’t want to hurt Tsuki if he doesn’t have to. At the very least, we might be able to get away using her.”  
Mikasa was glaring at Levi. She grabbed his collar, “Would you get it together!? Your soldiers need you!”  
Levi gritted his teeth and turned his head away. “I’m a failure. I’m sorry.”  
“Stop apologizing!” Mikasa shouted at him. “Lead us!”  
“Whenever I take the lead… I only cause more deaths…” Levi’s body was limp in her grip. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”  
“Sorry!?” Mikasa screamed in his face. “How can you just simply say ‘sorry’!?”  
Armin turned to Leah and Demi. “We’re on our own. We have to find a way out of his without his help.”  
Mikasa gritted her teeth and looked over, seeing that Clay was still standing where he had been the whole time. Miraculously, nothing around him was damaged. “Clay… help us… please…”  
Demi jumped when Reiner kneeled down and held his hand out instead of attacking them. She saw that his gaze was focused on Tsuki. Demi hissed, “He wants to save her.”  
“So he can finish us…” Armin mumbled.  
Demi clenched her hands. If only she could cut Eren free of that mouth and wake him up. But he hadn’t lasted the first time against the massive Titan. Turning into a Titan a second time would not change the fact he was weaker than Reiner.  
Demi’s eyes widened as she suddenly thought about it. She darted through the small group of people and grabbed Tsuki by the back of the neck, lifting her up. Demi’s arm grew out into the green blade and she glared challengingly at Reiner. “Drop Eren and leave or I’ll kill her!”  
Reiner let out a roar of protest and flinched. For a moment, she thought he’d comply but he turned, looking back at Burt. The Colossal Titan nodded and Reiner turned back. He raised his fist, ready to slam it down on all of them.  
Demi’s eyes widened. “That… bastard…!”  
Tsuki trembled in Demi’s hold and a scream of sadness ripped out of her throat. “Stop it! Leave them alone!”  
Armin grabbed a hold of Leah. “I’m sorry!”  
Leah held him close. “This is it – “ She closed her eyes and braced herself to be crushed.  
A flash and blur of black followed by an eruption of blood interrupted what should have been impact. They all looked up as Reiner fell over, but the flash kept moving, cutting up his torso around the armor and going for the face.  
It finally slowed and Levi came to a stop on Reiner’s foot. He looked back at them. “Stop wasting time, Brats. Get out of here.”  
Demi glared at him. “We can’t leave with Eren still in his mouth!”  
“Let me worry about that. Leave. More deaths would be useless here.” Levi stated emotionlessly, no longer looking at them. He raised his weapons and flew forward as Reiner started to sit up. He just barely cut Reiner’s jaw when he was grabbed by the leg. He let out a terrible noise as he felt it break in the Titan’s grasp.  
Levi glared at him and, with all the malice he could conjure up, “I wish I could be the one to kill you for all the suffering you’ve caused…but…” He spun suddenly, cutting himself out of Reiner’s hand and flying across his face, cutting his mouth on open.   
Eren fell out of Reiner’s mouth.  
Levi looked down, seeing that those remaining alive were quickly making their way to the edge of the wall and away from the Titans. Just beneath him, he saw Demi waiting to catch Eren. Good… protect your friends… don’t die…  
Reiner caught Levi with his last good hand and, without hesitating, slammed him into the ground and breaking him effortlessly.

Demi gasped when Eren fell into her arms and she turned, running back after with the others. Mikasa waited for her. “Hurry! Go!” She helped Demi shift to her maneuver gear while holding onto Eren and start down the wall. Once she was sure she was going, she glanced back.  
Mikasa’s eyes widened when she saw Burt’s hand about to wrap around her. A scream escaped her and she cringed just before it would have caught her. But all she felt was heat. She opened her eyes to see that the hand had been stopped from clasping by Clay. He forced Burt’s hand to remain open.  
Mikasa gasped, “C-Clay?”  
“Get going, Mikasa. Don’t you dare die.” Clay ordered softly. “I didn’t save your life back then to see you lose it now.”  
“B-back then…?” Mikasa trembled. “Clay…? Were you there, too? When they caught me?”  
“Don’t hate me.” Clay ordered. “I’ve lied to you so much. But… I couldn’t stand to see you hurt. I hope you’ll forgive me one day.” Clay let go of Burt’s massive hand and bit into his own while jumping towards the other two Titans.  
A bright light exploded before Mikasa and a third Titan stood between the other two. The dark hair of this new Titan drifted in the wind before it turned its obsidian eyes on Reiner. In one swift move, he grabbed him and spun, throwing both of them over to the other side of the wall and away from the soldiers.  
Mikasa followed after the other soldiers.  
Leah stared at her and asked, “What about Clay?”  
Mikasa desperately tried to hide the tears in her eyes. “He’s… sacrificing himself so we can get away…”  
Tsuki stared up at the black haired girl. Connie, Jean, Hanji, Kana, Levi, and now Clay. All of them and many more soldiers, as well Reiner and Burt who’d betrayed them. They were all dead. All of them. And it was because of Reiner and Burt.  
How could he? How could it be true?  
No…! No, no no! Tsuki trembled in Leah’s hold. She suddenly gripped her hair and cried. “Reiner… go back…! Go back to the way you were! Take this all back! We can’t lose this much! I can’t do this… just…  
GO BACK!!!!”  
Tsuki let out a horrendous scream and she felt Leah accidentally drop her from the top of the wall. The breeze felt like ice on her skin. The feeling of falling felt like freedom.  
The weight was lifted from her as she escaped the agony that had surrounded them.  
She could just forget it all ever happened.

Tsuki opened her eyes, seeing Reiner walking up to Eren while grumbling about his arm still being in pain from the Titan biting it. He laughed as he told Eren, “Thanks for helping me up.”  
“Any time.” Eren told him.  
From behind her, Tsuki hear Kana scold Mizuki, “Will you leave the poor thing alone?”  
Tsuki couldn’t breathe.  
What the hell?


	51. The End (4)

Reiner rubbed his forehead. “I seriously thought I wasn’t gonna make it.”  
Eren looked at him curiously. “Even someone as strong as you had some troubles, huh?”  
Demi giggled. “Yeah, he almost became Titan food.”  
“Strong?” Reiner repeated after Eren said it. “I don’t think so. That’s the second time I’ve been in the grasp of a Titan. Clay and Kana would remember, I was once in the grasp of the Female Titan, too.”  
Tsuki was staring as the scene before her repeated itself. Her heart was pounding like crazy in her chest. She had just been falling to her death. She was just about to die. But now here she was, standing before these people, about to live it all over again.  
Why was this happening? Did she have to relive watching everyone die? Her stomach knotted up and she felt sicker than she ever had. She collapsed to her knees, staring with wide eyes at the ground.  
Reiner kneeled down to her. “Tsuki, are you alright? What’s wrong?”  
Tsuki gasped and pushed him back. She crawled away, a scream on the tip of her tongue. “What do you mean what’s wrong…? Y-You…You Titan!”  
Reiner’s eyes widened and Burt put an arm in front of him. Burt chuckled without humor. “What kind of joke is that, Tsukiko? It’s not funny to call someone a Titan.”  
Tsukiko was trembling. “Joke…? You think it’s a joke?”  
Reiner reached his hand out to her. “Tsuki, you’re just stressed out. We were all freaking out back there. Do you really think I’m a Titan?”  
Before Tsuki could say anything else, someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. Kana was staring into her face, but she could see that Kana was as pale and breathless as she was. Kana hoarsely asked, “Tsukiko. What did you say?”  
Tsuki grabbed Kana’s sleeve. “You knew, didn’t you?” She pulled herself to her feet. “You’ve known that Reiner was a Titan, didn’t you?”  
“…Yes…”  
Reiner glared at her. “You son of a – “ He went to throw a punch at Kana, but in an instant, Levi was there and caught his arm, twisting it back.  
Levi ordered. “Calm down. What is going on here?”  
Reiner gritted his teeth and yelled at Kana, “What did you tell her!? I told you not to get her involved! Did you think I was joking!?”  
Levi’s eyes widened. “You’re the – “  
Kana grabbed the back of his poncho and pulled him and Tsuki back as suddenly Reiner erupted into the Armored Titan and Burt transformed into the Colossal Titan shortly after.  
Tsuki gripped Kana’s shirt and screamed, “No! Not again! I can’t watch everyone die again!”  
Kana grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. “Listen to me, Tsuki. You – “ Her eyes widened when she remembered the Colossal Titan’s first move. Though this time he fully formed and stood, overlooking the wall, he brought his arm around just like he did last time.  
Kana held her hand out. “Mizuki.”  
Mizuki jumped off Levi’s shoulders and turned into a shield like she had done once before. Kana braced herself on the edge of the wall, gasping when the arm hit her and she managed to stop its momentum. She gritted her teeth and looked over at Tsuki, “Tsuki, you have to – “ To her right, the armored Titan was running towards them.   
If she let go of the shield, then Burt would knock everyone off the wall.  
Tsuki stared with wide eyes as Levi hooked his gear to Reiner and reeled himself in, cutting his leg, hoping to slow him down. The white mist formed off of Tsuki’s skin and Amaak appeared in front of her. You must use my abilities. You can’t just sit back. I understand you were close to Reiner. But you must overcome your attachments and understand what is expected of you now.  
Tsuki felt tears run down her face. “I can’t fight him… I can’t.”  
Kana looked up at the Armored Titan. Several people were all going in for kills on him. Connie, Sasha, Eren, even Demi was at his ankles, chopping at him. A couple like Hanji and Mikasa were flying towards Burt. Her eyes widened when she saw that Levi wrapped his wire around Reiner’s neck to sling shot him back in. But as he started moving back, Reiner reached up and snagged his wire, yanking him down suddenly.  
“Mizuki!” Kana yelled, running. Mizuki read her thoughts and turned into the boots. With the new power in her legs, she propelled herself quickly forward and jumped into the air. She wrapped her arms around Levi and slid across the ground until she was on the other side of Reiner.  
Levi didn’t miss a beat and reeled himself in to one ankle, cutting the inside of it. Reiner dropped immediately to one knee.  
Mizuki shifted back to the gloves on Kana’s arms and she ran up Reiner’s back, heading for the spot on his neck.  
Reiner looked ahead, ignoring Kana on his back and reached towards Tsuki. Tsuki’s eyes widened. “R-Reiner…?” Tsuki gasped when, before Reiner’s giant hand touched her, she was scooped up by someone else and ran the other way.  
Tsuki’s arms automatically wrapped around him, but it wasn’t until he started talking that she realized who it was. “Tsukiko? Are you okay? Have you been hurt?”  
Tsuki relaxed in Jean’s arms. “I-I’m not hurt…”  
“Physically anyway, huh?”  
She was set down in front of him and she looked at him curiously. Jean gave her a warm smile, “I know how you must feel. We’re all kind of shocked about it. But we have to face the fact that Reiner was involved in bringing down the walls. I don’t want to believe it any more than you do. Well… I’m sure it’s harder for you but…” Jean started rubbing his face. “Shit, I don’t know what I’m saying. Look…” He gripped her shoulders. “Don’t let your feelings cloud your judgement. Reiner screwed up and lost something amazing. The rest of us aren’t dumb enough to betray you or the rest of Humanity. Believe in us… believe in that fighting this battle is worth tomorrow. No one wants to see you or anyone else die. At least… I don’t want to see you get hurt.”  
Tsukiko was so focused on Jean that she didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. Reiner was right behind Jean and grabbed him, picking him into the air. Tsuki gasped and screamed, “Reiner! Stop it! Put him down! Reiner please!! Don’t kill him! I’m begging you!!”  
Jean was reaching down to her. “Tsukiko! Don’t lose this battle! You have to win! I wanted to tell you all along… I’ve always wanted to say it to you but I never could…!” Jean was struggling to stay calm. She could see the tears form in his eyes as he finished, “I know we fought all the time as trainees… but it’s because I wanted your attention. I wanted you to notice me. I faced every day and every challenge because you were there! Tsukiko…! I’ve always loved you…! I just couldn’t tell you!”  
Tsuki felt her whole body go cold as Reiner squeezed his fist closed, breaking Jean within his grasp and letting the mangled body fall back to the ground. It started out as a meager noise from her throat before erupting into a full-fledged horror-filled, broken scream. “No! Why!!! How could you!!!?? I can’t do this!!! Make it stop!! Ahhhhh!!!!!! MAKE THIS STOP!!!!”  
Kana flipped over the back of the armored Titan and cut the armor off his neck. She used her gear and started to swing around, but when Tsuki screamed stop, Kana suddenly noticed she was stuck in a void. Her body stopped moving and she just floated in the air.  
Reiner raised his fist and went to smash her, but she felt arms wrap around her. Her eyes widened as Levi caught her. There was a warm smile on his lips and she heard, “I won’t let you.”  
Tsuki’s eyes widened as Reiner’s fist came down, crushing them both in one blow. When Reiner raised his fist again, Mizuki formed to her normal self and started to crawl away when Reiner beat her down again.  
Tsuki trembled and let out another scream of sadness and rage. Everything inside of her was all twisted up and as though matching her inner feelings, everything around her was thrown into turmoil.  
She was suddenly standing with Demi, Eren, Reiner, and Burt again. Just like before, events unfolded out of her control and before she knew it everyone was dying around her. At one point Kana ran around her, claws extended. At the same moment, an unfamiliar Titan burst around her from the other side, both of them took on the Titans.  
Things moved in fast forward around her. Or maybe in reverse. She couldn’t tell. She kept seeing everyone die. Then they were back. Then she watched them torn limb from limb. People screaming in fear, people crying over the loss of their loved ones.  
Tsuki held herself, another scream. What was going on? What was happening? She was losing her mind and she had no idea why.  
She was transported to another time once again, but this time, she felt a hand on her shoulder as soon as she moved. Tsuki turned, tears still running down her cheeks; as soon as she had, Kana landed a solid punch right to her face.  
Tsuki choked a moment on her breath and stared at her friend, but for the first moment, everything was calm. There was no fighting, screaming, or crying. Tsuki panted and held her face, brushing her thumb over her bleeding lip.  
Kana hissed under her breath, “You have to get control of yourself or we’ll never get out of this time loop…”  
Tsuki gasped, “I… I was doing that?”  
“Yes.” Kana started to go on when she was blind-sided by Reiner hitting her.  
Reiner yelled, “Why the hell did you just hit her!?” He went to punch her again when Levi kicked him, cutting him off and knocking him back on his butt. Eren winced, remembering getting kicked like that at court.  
Levi turned to Kana and asked, “What is going on?”  
Hanji and the others rushed up. She asked, “What happened, I just saw Kana go flying over to Tsuki and punched the crap out of her!”  
Mizuki sniffled and clung to Levi’s hair. “I don’t wanna die anymore…”  
Levi’s brows furrowed. “Say what?”  
Kana looked at Reiner who was glaring at them suspiciously. She leaned to Tsuki and whispered, “Don’t discuss anything, okay? Just remember what you saw. All of that was true. We really went through that. You’ve awakened your power.”  
Tsuki’s eyes widened. “I…? Did?”  
“What are you two whispering about?” Reiner demanded.  
Kana ignored Reiner and turned to face Tsuki, her back to the rest of them. “Think hard. I need you to rewind again, okay? Concentrate.”  
“What?” Tsuki gasped, staring at Kana.  
“Close your eyes and concentrate. Talk to Amaak. He can help you. But you need to go back to when we first climbed up on the wall.”  
Tsuki was trying to get her breathing in order, drowning out all the questions everyone was suddenly asking Kana. She was so confused by what Kana was telling her. “I can… rewind? H-how? What are you talking about?”  
Kana gritted her teeth. “I know you don’t understand it but if you don’t we’re all going to die again, okay? Please. Talk to Amaak.”  
“Kana!” Reiner shouted. “You told her, didn’t you!?”  
“Tsuki, now!” Kana ordered, her patience draining.  
Mizuki slid off of Levi’s back and walked over to Kana. “N-Not again… not again…”  
Tsuki closed her eyes. A-Amaak… what does Kana mean…?  
Your abilities have been awakened and you lost control. We’ll explain more but not in this time. All of your friends are in danger. Think back to a time when they weren’t. When things were safe. When everyone was safe. When did you last feel at ease…?  
Tsuki was gasping for breath through the falling tears. She thought over and over to when she was safe. When? When was it that she wasn’t scared…?

Suddenly Tsuki was standing in the girls room. Everyone was sleeping. They were underground in Titan territory but only a few hours before, everyone had been laughing and giggling. Here, for a brief moment, they had been safe. Even the boys in the room over were quiet and peaceful. Tsuki felt a tremor of fear. But one of them… no, two of them… were Titans waiting to transform.  
One of them would soon kill all of her friends.  
Tsuki saw movement from one of the girls and gasped when Kana sat up and looked at her. “Good job. Of course you moved us quite a ways back… I’m tired. Anyway.” Kana rubbed her eyes and stood up. “This is perfect, everyone is asleep. Listen Tsukiko, you’ve awakened your natural ability. That ability is to move time.”  
“R-really?” Tsuki stared at her, eyes wide.  
“Everything you’ve seen happen has really happened.” Kana explained. “No one else is aware of the time shift except Mizuki and I. I’m not sure why, perhaps it has something to do with my awareness. But you’ve been using your ability without using Amaak as the medium. That’s why it’s been so out of control.”  
Amaak appeared out of Tsuki’s skin and looked up at her in his baby fox form. I was trying to communicate with you, but rarely could I get through. You were so shaken up. I can help you focus your power. You’re still the one using it, but I will control it if you just tell what you need to do. Just as when you were trying to rewind. I kept you from going too far back or too far forward.  
Tsuki sniffed. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you. That was never it.” She stared at the ground. “Then… whatever was said or whatever happened… is really true, isn’t it? So… Jean is in love with me…? And… Clay…! He…!”  
Kana was nodding. “Unfortunately, everyone knew about the Jean thing but you. We all saw it, but you were so focused on Reiner…” Kana rubbed her face. She wasn’t helping anything. “Anyway. I’ve been stressing over the Clay thing myself. I didn’t know if he knew or what… but after seeing all of that, I’m sure that he’s known he’s a Titan. I plan to confront him after this battle. But we have to make it out alive first.”  
“So… what do we do?” Tsuki asked. “No matter what happened each time, so many people died.” She flinched, remembering a scene where she watched Reiner and Burt work together to pull Leah apart. “I can’t believe they did this…”  
“Their target is Eren and we know they’re going to transform.” Kana stated. “Knowing these two things and now that you’re in control, this time will be different. If it’s not… then you’ll rewind us and we’ll try again. This time, Tsuki, I’m relying on you. We need you to fight with us. You can save so many lives. If we lose someone, you rewind back; I will save them.”  
“So… You trust me, I trust you.” Tsuki replied. “Just as the Trinity+1 Squad has always done.”  
“Our squad is still alive.” Kana stated, looking at her hands. “I may not be a great judge of character… but whatever Clay is hiding, I’m not convinced he’s our enemy. I don’t know why he didn’t reveal himself until the end, but he was still fighting for us.”  
Tsuki nodded. “Any time he transformed, he was fighting on our side.”  
Kana took a deep breath. “When you move us back to present… I’m going to get everyone away from Reiner and Burt. Distract Reiner as long as you can by not discussing the Titan subject. Maybe we can find a way to restrain him before he transforms. If nothing else… maybe we can kill him before he does.”  
Tsuki’s hands clenched. “R-Right.”  
“Can you do this?” Kana asked. “I know… it’ll still be hard for you.”  
Tsuki nodded. “I know I can do this. I will do this. I swear.” Amaak looked up at her. You should know, Tsuki, that in order to use your power, you must remain still. And always think about what you want so that I know what to do.  
Tsuki smiled. “Yes sir, Amaak.” She looked at Kana and narrowed her eyes. “Let’s do this, Kana. Let’s do this right, this time.”  
Kana held her hand out. “Take us back, Tsuki.”


	52. The Common Divided

“Here.”  
Kana took Levi’s hand and pulled herself on up over the top of the wall. She stood up straight and looked around. Tsuki was already up top, but Reiner and Burt were more slow getting up because of his arm. Eren was standing at the edge, ready to help them up. She noticed that Tsuki was staring at her worriedly. Kana gave her a nod of reassurance.  
She watched as Mizuki climbed off of Levi’s head and went to run across the wall to Tsuki to play with Amaak. As she started to take off, Kana grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back. “You stay right here.”  
Mizuki sighed. “Oh yeah…”  
Kana looked at Levi for a moment before she took a deep breath. “Levi, I need your help. Do you trust me?”  
He glared at her. “What kind of question is that?”  
“Listen. In just a few minutes, we’re going to be attacked by the Colossal and Armored Titan at the same time.” Kana explained. When Levi’s eyes widened, she could tell what he was going to ask next, “I know this because Tsuki’s awakened her ability. She can move Time at her digression. We’ve already gone through the battle a hundred times, but each time we have a terrible amount of casualties. She can’t keep doing it or she’s going to exhaust her energy, so we have to do this with as few deaths as possible.”  
Levi stared at her moment before nodding. “So what do you have in mind?”  
“We need to get everyone away from Reiner and Burt.” Kana explained, looking over as Eren pulled Reiner up on the wall. They were short on time. “And Demi needs gear. But we don’t have any extras. They’re after Eren. We’re going to use him as bait. The Colossal Titan can generate heat. So going in for his kill is suicide. No one can get close to him.”  
Hanji walked up to the two of them, ignoring a shouting Christa. She asked, “What’s going on?”  
Levi narrowed his eyes. “We’re about to have a tough battle, Hanji. Ready yourself.”  
“What?” Hanji questioned. “Why do you say that?”  
“Just trust me.” Levi ordered and then to Kana he said, “Bring Demi over here.”

Tsuki frowned when Reiner started complaining about getting attacked by Titans all the time. She leaned down and gave him her biggest fake smile she could. “Hey, Reiner. Remember how you mentioned wanting to take me out on a date?”  
Reiner’s smile was warm and sincere and for a moment, Tsuki thought her will would give out. But she remembered seeing all of her friends die before her eyes. But it was the image of Reiner crushing Jean right in front of her face as he confessed his love that lingered the most. He softly said, “Yeah, what about it?”  
“I had an idea for a second date.” She stated. “Ya know, for our one year anniversary.”  
“Oh yeah.” Reiner closed his eyes, his smile broadening. “That’s in a week, isn’t it?” As Tsuki stared at him, she couldn’t believe this was the Armored Titan. The monster that killed everyone. That caused so many to die…  
Maybe she could stop him from changing at all. “I had this idea. Do you think we could go to – “  
“Demi. The Captain wants to see you.” Kana informed, trotting up to the little group.  
Demi stared at her for a moment with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Then they widened. “Wait, did you ask about – “  
Kana nodded. She gave her a bright smile. “But you have to go talk to him.”  
Demi let out a squeal and immediately ran over. “Yes, yes, yes!”  
Eren looked at Kana. “Does she get to join the Survey Corps? Or will she have to go through training first?”  
Kana nodded her head towards Levi and Demi. “Go see for yourself.” Eren hesitated, but, unable to contain his own excitement, he rushed over.  
When Kana looked at Tsuki, Reiner, and Burt, she noticed that the soon to be Armored Titan was glaring at her. He demanded sharply, “What are you up to?”  
“Huh?” Kana feigned ignorance. “Demi wanted me to get her into the Survey Corps. I talked to Captain Levi and he wants to ask her a couple questions. Why are you so suspicious?”  
Reiner raised his arm and went to grab Tsuki but she caught it before it touched her. Reiner stared at her in shock. “Tsuki? What’s wrong?”  
Tsuki glared at him. “Why…? How could you?”  
“Tsuki!” Kana gasped.  
Tsuki shouted at him. “HOW COULD YOU BETRAY EVERYONE!?”  
Just like that, the events began to unfold.

Leah, Armin, and Mikasa all stood up as a bright light and a shockwave unsettled them all. In the next moment, the Colossal Titan, half formed, was crawling on the wall while the Armored Titan appeared just in front of him. He slowly stood up and glared at all of them. Leah’s eyes were wide. “H-Here? But how?”  
In the next moment, Leah felt a rush of reassurance. Even though there were two huge Titans staring them down, she felt no sickness. That meant that no one was going to die! She clenched her hand into a fist. “Guys…! We’re going to beat them.”  
Armin stared at her. “You sure seem confident.”  
“I don’t sense anyone is going to die.” Leah confessed. “Either way, that’s good.”  
Mikasa’s eyes were wide. “If no one is going to die, then we need to take our chance to kill them!”  
“Exactly!” Leah told her. “Let’s go!”  
The three of them started to charge when Levi cut them off suddenly, his arms up. “Hold up. Stand your ground.”  
“But why?” Armin asked. “Leah says that no one will die. She told me about her stomach pains. If no one is going to die, we can win.”  
“It’s not that simple. Just follow my orders, brats.” Levi ordered.  
Leah’s eyes widened when she realized something. “Hey Levi, where is your – “  
“Clay?” Mikasa looked back, seeing that Clay was still sitting where he had been, looking up at the sky. “Clay, come on, get up. What are you doing?”  
“If day means light and night means darkness… does that make the nighttime evil?” Clay asked, closing his eyes.  
Mikasa stared, confusion in her eyes. “What do you mean?”  
“Sometimes, I think we need a break from the light…” Clay commented.

Kana and Tsuki both jumped back. Tsuki’s white metal wings were spread from her back while Kana had two black swords in her hands. “Remember our plan, Tsuki. We focus on protecting lives.”  
Tsuki nodded and looked to her left. “Burt’s first attack is to swing his arm to try and knock everyone off the wall.”  
“I got it.” Kana growled, darting towards the crowd of mystified soldiers. She moved between them and the extended arm that was slowly swinging towards them. She raised her arms and pressed her two swords together. They morphed into one massive long sword and she jumped towards the arm. She used her maneuver gear to connect to the tip of Burts finger and it reeled her quickly down his arm. She dug her sword in, cutting all the way down the length until she whipped around past the end of his hand.  
Mizuki morphed into a hook and Kana sank her into his hand and yanked down, causing Burts hand to slam into the ground instead of the wall.  
Tsuki gritted her teeth as she glared up at Reiner. Kana would distract Burt from attacking the others, which left her to Reiner. Maybe she was imagining it, but she felt like she could still see reluctance in his eyes. Maybe there was. This wasn’t the same Reiner that was pushed to the edge as before.  
His gaze shifted to Eren who was standing with Mikasa and the others.   
The Armored Titan charged.  
Tsuki shot up into the air, in front of his face and spun in the air, landing a kick to his face. He stumbled back but regained his footing, stopping himself from falling over. Out of instinct, he swung his arm up, swatting at her.  
Her eyes widened but she heard Amaak tell her don’t evade, you’re not fast enough, brace yourself. She closed her eyes and felt Reiner’s hand slam into her and then swing down. She saw Kana take a lot of hits similar to this before, but she was scared of the pain of having her body broken like this.  
She hit the wall hard enough that it broke apart underneath her. When Reiner lifted his hand, Tsuki opened her eyes. Nothing hurt. Sitting up and looking down at herself, she realized the white metal was covering her entire body.  
You are Humanity’s Shield. Embrace who you are.  
Tsuki got to her feet, glaring up at Reiner. Yes. She was their shield. Her destiny was to protect those around her. She may not be the strongest, but she was certainly the most defiant and enduring. Her determination, Kana’s speed, Leah’s guidance, and Demi’s pure strength; together, they could lead Humanity to a future without fear of the Titans.  
Tsuki screamed as loud as she could, “You chose the wrong side, Reiner! Don’t underestimate us! Humanity will win! We, as Slayers, will guide them there! Together, we can do anything! You’ll never stop us! So accept your defeat now… the friends you betrayed don’t want to have to kill you… but for our future… for our own happiness… WE WILL DO WHATEVER WE HAVE TO DO!!!!”

Jean smirked from where he stood with Hanji and the others. “Now… that’s what I call a battle cry.”

Leah pumped her fist in the air. “You tell him, Tsuki! Humanity is going to win this battle!”

“Then let’s get shaking.”   
Tsuki looked over her shoulder as Kana jumped down next to her. Reiner let out a roar in response to Tsuki’s shout and raised his hand to flatten them. “Tsuki.” Kana ordered, jumping up. Tsuki spread her wings and flew right over, snagging her hands under Kana’s arms and lifting her into the air. As his arm came down, Tsuki flew in circles around it until they were both hovering over his head.  
Entering a spin, Tsuki threw Kana right down at his face. Kana twisted her body in the air so both of her black claws ripped into his eyes. She kept a hold of him so she did a back spin and kicked his nose, knocking him backwards on his back. With a fire in her eyes, she followed Reiner to the ground, snarling, ”I’m not done with you, you son of a bitch.” She clasped her hands together so they formed into the giant long sword and she cut down the middle of his face and neck. Blood splattered all over her as she rolled off his forehead once he was landed.  
Kana looked up as Burt’s hand was already flying at her to crush her. Tsuki flew right into his wrist with enough force to flip it backwards and into his own face. Tsuki spun herself to a stop in air and let out a wicked laugh, “No one touches my friends…Remember the ones you used to have!?”

Hanji stared with wide eyes. “They’re… amazing…”  
Leah was jumping up and down in the air. “Tsuki!! Kana!! Go guys, go!”  
Jean stared with wide eyes. “They just dropped the Armored Titan like he was nothing… that’s… incredible!”  
Armin got to his feet. “So this is the true power you guys have…? As Slayers…”  
Tsuki was hovering in the air and yelled down to Kana. “We need to flip Reiner before he can see again.”  
Kana looked at him and a devious grin spread on her lips. She ran towards Reiner, flipping over his arm so he wouldn’t feel where she was at.   
Tsuki watched her friend for a moment, before she heard a breeze behind her. She looked back, seeing Burt’s hand flying towards her. She just barely flipped out of the way, but his hand grazed her leg and she felt a terrible burning sensation from the back of her thigh down to her heel. “Shit.” She flew down lower, but his other hand followed too close to her.   
Even though he was slow, his arms covered so much distance that it was taking everything she had to avoid each hit.  
Kana jumped into the air, using her gear to hook into Reiner’s side. He swung his arm towards her, but she summersaulted across his torso and to his other side. The wires of her gear strained themselves as she landed on the ground from the side she’d hooked into. Kana raised Mizuki, in glove form and slammed her down into the wall. The claws sank in and she slowly started to pull herself forward. She heard the reeling of the wires as they tried to pull back in against the Armored Titan’s weight.  
I hope this gear doesn’t give out on me…  
“Kana!”  
Kana looked over, seeing Connie, Christa, and Ymir pointing upward. When Kana looked up, she saw Reiner’s fist coming down towards her. Kana snarled, ”Tsuki!! Back me up!!”  
“I can’t!” Tsuki screamed, barely missing another fist.  
Kana closed her eyes and prepared for yet another death. Not this shit again…


	53. On the Verge

Kana gritted her teeth. If he kills me here, it’ll take too long for my body to regenerate. We’ll lose the battle by then…!  
A swirl of green rocketed across the sky. A spear and wire stabbed into Reiner’s forearm and then reeled Demi in. Demi breezed by, her arm covered in an oddly snake-like scaled armor with a massive scythe extended out of her hand. She spun it around in her hand and easily cut off Reiner’s fist.  
Kana gasped as it landed next to her. She shouted up at Demi who landed on his torso, “Where did you get gear!?”  
Demi snickered and yelled back, “I was given a loan. Told I have to give it back, though.”  
“Who – “  
“Hurry up and flip this bastard so I can cut his neck out!” Demi ordered. She hooked her gear in a few feet down from where Kana’s was and used her own weapons to start pulling herself forward with her. Together, they were starting to lift Reiner over, despite him fighting against them.

Hanji stared at Levi in shock. “You gave her your maneuver gear…?”  
Levi didn’t even look at her. “We have to put our faith in our best chance at victory.”  
Hanji quickly started at her own gear. “Then here, take mine, you need it more than I – “  
Levi raised his hand. “I’m fine.” He turned to the others and started ordering. “Armin. You’re the best brain we have. Find a way out of this for us. If you can put together a plan to catch them, that would be the preference. But if not, then just think of a way we can kill them. If we destroy these two, our walls will be safe for the time being.”  
Armin nodded his head, but Levi continued, “Kana said that Burt can cover himself with a steam too hot for us to reach, so trying to attack him is useless. They want to capture Eren, just as Annie did, therefore, it’s an option to use him as bait.”  
Armin gritted his teeth, trying to think of a way out. Levi turned back around. “Jean. You, Connie, Leah, and Mikasa back up the Slayers. But be wary. We don’t want anyone to die. Hanji, I expect you can take a team and set up a trap?”  
“We don’t have any material… but I’ll see what I can do.” Hanji stated.  
“You have dedicated soldiers and an endless supply of courage. You’ll come up with something.” He glared at her. “No one dies today. That’s an order.”  
“Y-Yes Captain.” Hanji motioned for some of the soldiers to follow her.  
Jean and the others started towards the Titans when Leah hesitated and looked back. “Mikasa, are you coming?”  
Mikasa was gripping Clay’s shoulders. “A-Are you in shock? Snap out of it! Please…!”  
Clay touched her hand, but said nothing back. Leah and Connie pulled her away from him and they went running into battle.

Rubble was flying everywhere and Tsuki had to put her hands up to block another punch that sent her flying into the ground. She felt the impact, but it wasn’t painful, just a reminder that she was still feeling. The metal around her body was absorbing most of the blows.  
When she hit the ground this time, she saw Burt’s other hand was already coming towards her. Tsukiko sat up, but before she could do anything, two people reeled themselves in to Burt’s wrist. They flipped over either side of his arm and cut out either side of the wrist so it fell limp.  
Jean and Connie landed on either side of her. Jean helped her to her feet and asked, “Are you alright?”  
Tsuki nodded. “But we can’t – “ She gasped when Leah and Mikasa flew up the Colossal Titan’s arm and towards his face. “Wait!” She jumped up and flew after them, wrapping her arms around them before they got too close and flew backwards as Burt erupted into steam as he had before. He threw a punch up towards them, but Tsuki flew out of the way. She landed and let them go, “Help Kana and Demi.”

Kana and Demi were making progress and had Reiner almost up on his side, despite him trying to roll back over. Kana felt her gear pulling at her hips, trying to drag her back. She kept cursing in effort.  
“It’s far enough, we can get it!”  
They looked over, seeing Jean and Connie flying towards Reiner’s neck, his swords raised. Kana’s eyes were wide. Reiner shifted suddenly and flipped on over, rolling over the top of Kana and Demi and swinging his fist towards them.  
After landing, both of them turned, jumping opposite ways to get out of the way. Jean easily moved out of the way, but when Reiner’s fist landed, he hit the end of Connie’s arm, crushing his hand into the pavement. He let out a scream of pain and started rolling around.  
Jean rushed over and picked him up, running while Reiner scrambled to get back to his feet. He rushed well out of the way, relieved when he saw Reiner turn his attention to Tsuki and the others. He stopped and set Connie down near Levi. Leah had followed him and dropped down. “I’ll tend to him, you get back and fight.”  
Jean nodded and ran back in.  
Leah immediately started tending to his hand, struggling while the boy squirmed in agony. “I know it hurts Connie, but I have to stop the bleeding.”  
Levi kneeled down and asked, “How is he?”  
“His life isn’t in danger yet.” Leah answered, “But I have to get this wrapped up and the bleeding stopped.”  
Armin looked up at Levi, “Where is Eren?”  
“Why? Do you have a plan?” Levi asked curiously.  
“Maybe…” Armin admitted.

Demi and Kana were avoiding and landing hits steadily. Their bodies had both recovered quickly and they were back to almost a hundred percent. Reiner was throwing punches, but each time they avoided one, they went in to cut somewhere, but their moves weren’t doing enough damage. They could only hit enough that it scratched at his armor. They used their gear to swing around and went for his legs, but he kneeled, causing them to both hit the wall.  
Kana flipped back up and flew right towards his neck, but he raised his hand to grab her. She pushed herself off his palm before being caught by his fingers. At the same time, Demi went for his face to get his eyes again, but he flicked her away into the ground.  
Kana swung around, landing beside her and they both looked up in time to see his fist nearly slam into them. They both raised their hands at the same time and their weapons turned into a shield that fit together into one huge shield. His fist met it and they slid back several feet, but they were able to stop its momentum.  
Tsuki flew over them and right up at Reiner’s face. “This is payback!” She went to use her swords to stab his eyes when he suddenly headbutted her when she got too close. She let out a scream and flew back down to them, causing all of them to slam back into the wall.  
Reiner stood up and walked passed them, looking around. He glared at the group of soldiers that weren’t attacking. He suddenly charged at them.  
Levi raised his sword. “Leah, pick up Connie and move out of the way. Now.”  
Leah looked up, her eyes wide. She jumped to her feet. “No! You get out of here!” She used her gear to fly towards Reiner. She could cut up his legs enough that he couldn’t reach them.  
“Wait!” Levi ordered, but too late, Leah was closing in on his knees. She slid right through, hitting spot on the tendons that kept his knees held together, between the plates of armor. His legs buckled and the armored Titan fell down on his face. However, he swung his arm forward, trying to grab at the group.   
Leah screamed, “Look out!”  
Armin gasped and tried to lift Connie up. “I can’t – “  
“Don’t move.” Levi ordered as the hand flew towards them.  
“Don’t move?!” Armin questioned. “But how – “  
Levi jumped up and spun in the air, using his remaining swords to cut the hand in half so the fingers fell on the other side of the group and the arm and hand landed uselessly in front of them.  
Christa and Ymir stared with wide eyes. Christa gasped, “Thank you…”  
Levi looked back at them, “Don’t thank me, yet.” Over his shoulder, he saw Reiner crawling towards them. His other hand was already flying towards them. “Run!” He scooped up Connie and prodded the rest of them into a run.  
Armin shot up, gasping when the wall started breaking into several pieces. It was hard for them to run over each piece as it upturned and several times Armin almost fell. He slid down a piece as it crumbled and when he landed, the next one flipped up and he had to jump over it.  
Leah was pulling herself up from her rolling land after cutting Reiner’s knees. She saw the other soldiers desperately trying to run away, but without any buildings, they couldn’t get away. Her eyes widened when she saw Reiner descending on them and Armin fell to his knees. “Armin!”  
Leah used her gear and sank it into Reiner’s back but the gear wasn’t pulling her in fast enough and she wondered if she would get anywhere near him in time. His giant Titan hand grabbed a large piece of the flying rubble and he threw it suddenly at the escaping group. “NO! ARMIN!!!”  
Armin stared at the ground. A second ticked by. Over his shoulder, he saw the shadow of the projectile nearing him. In the next second, he knew he’d be smashed under the weight of the chunk of wall. This was the end. For him.  
He gasped when a hand grabbed the back of his hood and lifted him up. Looking up, he saw Connie thrown ahead of where he was. Then it was him, flying through the air. He turned in air, seeing that where he stood, Levi had thrown both of them out of harms way.  
He hit the wall a safe distance away at the same time the piece of wall landed where he should have been, and where Levi still was. “Captain!!!” Armin yelled out loud.  
Leah gasped as Reiner, after throwing the projectile, turned and caught Leah’s wire and spun throwing her into the ground.

Kana lifted herself to her feet. Too many seconds were ticking by. She pushed herself off the wall as Mizuki turned into her boots and she ran as fast as she could.  
Everything was going in slow motion. Everything depended on this next second. Over her shoulder, Kana shouted, “Tsukiko!!! Rewind!!!”  
Tsuki sat up, her eyes wide.   
She had to do it. This was the moment that it mattered. She had to concentrate and rewind everything except herself and Kana.  
Tsukiko closed her eyes and held her hands out. Amaak formed in front of her as a glowing blue light. It shifted into dust around her and Kana and then everything began to happen in reverse.

Kana began to move so fast that it felt like she was running through time.


	54. Redo

Kana ran under the rubble that Reiner threw. But the rubble was flying through the air and backwards, going back to Reiner’s hand. It was so cool for her, to be moving around time. Amaak’s warm presence around her made her feel unstoppable.  
Beside her, she saw that Demi was running as well. Further up in the group, Eren was running his hardest, trying to lure Reiner away from the others. That’s what the Armored Titan had been after…!  
She got to Armin just as he fell. She picked him up and turned on her heel, grabbing Levi in her other arm. She yelled to Demi, “You cover Eren! Keep him from getting anywhere near Reiner!”  
“What the fuck do you think I’m doing!?” Demi yelled back at her, running on.  
Once Kana was almost to the edge and away from the projectile’s target, she shouted, “Let it go, Tsuki!”  
Tsuki gasped and dropped her hands.  
Time suddenly started to flow forward again. The rubble from the wall landed where the others had originally been, but this time, there was nothing there and it crumbled harmlessly to the ground.  
Kana set Armin and Levi down. “Are you guys okay?”  
Armin gasped and shouted, “You were way over there! How did you…?”  
“No time to explain.” Kana told him, but her eyes widened when she heard someone scream her name.

Tsuki was trembling with the effort to lift her arms. Amaak reformed in front of her. Because of your consistence use of your power from earlier, you’re drained on energy. I don’t know if you can do that again.  
Jean kneeled to Tsuki and asked, “Are you alright, can you move? What happened?”  
“Jean…” Tsuki panted and slowly tried to get up. When she about fell down again, Jean caught her and held her up. “S-Sorry… I’ve… been using my power too much.”  
“Here, let me get you to safety…” Jean told her.  
They both looked up suddenly when they heard an object flying towards them. Just to their left, a hand, brimming with hot steam was coming towards them. The Colossal Titan was about to smash them. Tsukiko let out a scream and tried to wrap her hands around Jean to protect him, but he pushed her back, knocking her out of the way.  
Her eyes widened as she stumbled to the edge. “Amaak!!! Stop this!”  
Amaak transformed and the dust of his body wrapped around the Colossal Titan. Tsuki froze in place, desperate not to let the spell of time be broken. She trembled and Jean looked over his shoulder at her and asked, “Are you doing that?”  
"Y-Yes…!” Tsuki panted. Now she felt it. Her power was sucking every ounce of energy out of her. She couldn’t hold it much longer. “K-kana!!! Save him!! Jean, move!”  
Jean immediately started running out of the way but his feet were hesitant. As he ran, he looked back at her. “What about you? You’re not wearing that armor… He’ll kill you.”  
“Just go! I’ll be fine! I won’t let you die on me…! Not again!” Tsuki screamed at him.  
“A-Again?” Jean’s legs gave out from under him and he tripped. He got back up but Tsuki could feel that her limit was drawing too quickly.

Kana ran right for the Armored Titan. She jumped over his broken wrist and ran up his arm, narrowly evading his other hand flying towards her to grab her. She flipped off his shoulder, seeing that his neck had re-healed with the armor back over it.   
But she didn’t have time to concern herself with it. She saw Tsuki trembling at the edge of the wall and Jean running to get away. Kana flipped into the air and used her gear to reel herself down next to Jean.  
She swung around, wrapping her arms around his waist and she flipped off the edge, hovering in the air. “Tsukiko! He’s out of the way! Release!”  
Tsuki dropped to her knees and the dust around the Colossal Titan shattered. Suddenly his hand smashed into her and she flew over the edge of the wall. Jean let out a scream of horror and reached towards her. “She’s going to fall!”  
Kana cursed. Amaak is too low on energy. He needs time before he can heal her. She triggered her gear to reel her back into the wall so she was suddenly jerked back towards Tsuki who was quickly falling down the wall. She leaned, holding Jean out who reached out, catching the unconscious girl on their way. “Got her!” He yelled.  
The gear released and they were flying along the wall with no support. The other wire was still reeling back in so she couldn’t use it. “Hold on, Jean.” Kana growled. Mizuki, reading her thoughts, turned into the black glove on her other hand. She slammed it into the wall and used the momentum to send her flying back up at the top. As soon as she reached the top of the wall, she threw the two of them back onto the wall and kept flying up.  
She gasped when she was blindsided by Burt’s other hand, grabbing her just barely by the arm wielding Mizuki. Her eyes widened and she cursed. She reached up, trying to free her arm, but Burt grabbed a hold of the rest of her body, keeping her from getting it. Kana looked back down at the wall where Jean was picking up Tsukiko. She was still unconscious. They wouldn’t be able to rewind or stop until she woke up. Kana snapped, “Mizuki! Do not transform, no matter what happens, okay!?”

Demi stopped beside Eren and asked, “What are you doing?”  
“I’m going to distract him.” Eren explained. “I’m going to get him away from everyone else, turn into a Titan and kill him myself.”  
“No, Eren, let us do this.” Demi ordered. “We can handle this, you just have to trust us.”  
“Trusting my comrades got them all killed last time!” Eren yelled. “I won’t mess up again!”  
Demi looked down. “I’m sorry… I’ve lost a lot too…”  
Eren gasped and hesitated, staring at Demi in shock. “Sorry… I didn’t mean…”

Leah shouted suddenly. “G-Guys!”  
Everyone looked over as they saw Jean carrying Tsuki back over to them. He set her down and Leah immediately went to her. He quickly said, “She’s unconscious. We need to keep her out of the way.”  
Leah nodded quickly, looking at the fox that was sitting on her stomach. “She doesn’t have any severe injuries… she must just be exhausted…”  
A rumbling made them look up again. Reiner was walking towards them, but no one was stopping him. Leah asked, “Where’s Kana? And the other soldiers…?” Even as she said it, she felt a sick twisting in her lower belly. “Wh-what…? Why am I suddenly feeling sick…? Why didn’t I sense this before!?”  
Armin touched her back, “You’re getting sick now?”  
Demi trotted up to them. “It must be because Tsukiko can’t go back in time anymore. I sensed it when it happened a couple times, but Kana and Tsuki made a plan and didn’t have time to let the rest of us in on it. I figured out this last time though, that she could bend time to her will. She must have exhausted her energy.”  
Armin looked at Leah. “Which meant until Tsuki was knocked out, she could change fates. Now that she is though…”  
“She can’t fix anyone’s death.” Leah’s eyes widened and she gritted her teeth. “Why can’t I help fight!? I’m so useless!”  
“No you’re not!” Armin argued. “I thought I was as well, but you and everyone else convinced me that I’m not! You are not useless, you’re every bit as important as everyone else here!”  
Leah felt tears in her eyes. “Then why can’t I help…? I want to be of some use… Kana and Tsuki have perfect chemistry. And Demi, who just joined, has already become so good with her gear and fighting the Titans… but I’m just sitting here, tending to the wounded.”  
“We don’t have time.” Levi cut them all off. He looked to Eren. “I think you need to get ready. We’re down to our last few options. We’ll have to resort to you becoming a Titan…”  
“N-Now?” Eren asked. “With all these people around? What if I can’t control it!?” Even as he was talking, he saw a couple soldiers fly towards Reiner to try and hold him up, but they were killed almost instantly.  
Levi narrowed his eyes. “If you can’t, then I’ll take you down. We’ve discussed this. Now go. These soldiers are all putting their lives in your hands.”  
Eren shifted uneasily, seeing that everyone was staring at him now. He gritted his teeth and looked ahead at the Armored Titan. “Got it.”

Kana felt sick to her stomach. She could hear Mizuki screaming in fear in her head, but her body was being pulled between two hands. The one around her waist and the other around her arm. At first it was a tearing sensation, but then she felt her bone snap and she let out a scream. Her arm was ripped off just a little before her elbow where Mizuki was attached. As soon as Burt successfully pulled off her arm, he threw the rest of her body across the wall.  
She felt two horrible thuds before she rolled to a stop and stared up at the sky. For a moment, she was numb to all the pain surging through her body. Her gaze moved towards Burt. In his massive grip, she saw the black glove form of Mizuki. She couldn’t last very long without her power in that form. When she transformed back, she’d be crushed and that was all there was to it.  
Her gaze moved to the blood pooling under what remained of her left arm. Her eyes widened. Sitting right beside her was Clay. The same Clay that hadn’t budged and inch this entire time.  
Kana let out a long sigh before whispering, “You like taking it easy, huh?”  
He didn’t respond, so she kept talking, not sure if she was to herself or not. “I’m not sure why you’re just sitting there. Honestly, I really don’t care. If I was confident that the Titans wouldn’t try to kill me, I’d probably just be taking it easy, as well.”  
Clay’s eyes widened, so she knew he was listening. She went on. “I know you’re a Titan, Clay. I’ve known for a while now, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if you knew yourself or not. I kept telling myself that you were on our side and you’d let us know when you felt you could. But after seeing this battle unfold a hundred times… I know that’s not the case. For some reason, you don’t want to help us… at first. Why? Why did you choose their side? Did they promise you something? Did they threaten your life?”  
“It’s a long story…” He replied weakly.  
“I’d like to hear it… some day.” Kana stated. “But right now… I know there’s something more driving you. I know that something will happen to make you want to help us. And that something is that fact that you haven’t been lying to us all this time. You are our friend. You fought along side us against the Titans, as a fellow Training and now Survey Corps member. I don’t care about Reiner or Burt. They never made a pact with us. They are not a member of Trinity+1. It might be easier to say… but I don’t want us to become Trinity.”  
“Neither do I.” Clay responded.  
“Then don’t let us.” Kana ordered, finally turning her head and looking at him. “You love Mikasa, don’t you?”  
His eyes widened again.  
Kana laughed weakly. “I knew it. Is she the reason? In the past battle, she was nearly killed. These bastards don’t care who dies. Whatever they promised or said to you won’t protect Mikasa or anyone else here. Don’t you want to protect everyone? I know you don’t want to let us die. The sooner you realize what you have to do, the better. Please, Clay.

Wake up.”


	55. Awake and Alive

The sun had set long ago. Night was set in for hours now.  
In the middle of the night, men arrived at the cabin in the forest.  
Clay had been sitting in the tree eating his pear for a while now. No one else ever came to this forest. But today someone had. These three men he’d never seen before. But between them, they were lugging a girl that had been tied up.  
To him, she was beautiful. Her black hair blended in with the night. But she was petrified. Whatever had happened to her caused her to remain still. She wasn’t even fighting back.  
Clay jumped out of the trees as they took her inside. He could only imagine the things they were going to do to that poor girl. Panicked, he raced out of the forest. He would find someone to help him rescue her. He had to.  
He would not let her die.

Leah, Eren, Demi, and Levi rushed over to Kana and Clay. Leah and Levi kneeled down on either side of her. Panicked, Leah gasped, “She’s loosing a lot of blood.”  
Levi was looking around. “Where is Mizuki?”  
Demi’s wide eyes fell on Burt and his hands. “There…”  
They all looked up, seeing the black glove in Burt’s fist, being squeezed between his finger and thumb. He was waiting for the girl to transform back.  
Demi started to run towards Burt when Kana ordered, “Stop. Reiner is headed this way. You guys need to get out of here. Burt is distracted. If Demi occupies Reiner, you can all escape.”  
Leah screamed, “We’re not leaving you behind!”  
A couple mangled bodies flew over their heads after Reiner threw them. Kana glared at Leah, “People are dying while you’re sitting here arguing with me!”  
Leah felt tears running down her cheeks. “You don’t always have to be the hero, Kana! We can help you! Stop sacrificing yourself! Let us win together!!”  
Kana smirked. “I think you’ll have to win without me…”  
Clay slowly got to his feet. Mikasa gasped and rushed up to him. She grabbed his sleeve. “Cl-Clay? Are you okay? What are you doing?”  
Clay looked at her, his warm hazel eyes melted as he looked upon her. Gently, he whispered, “I’m sorry it took me so long to make up my mind, Mikasa. But… I promise that I won’t let anyone else die.” He pulled off his gear and handed it to her. “Here. Give this to the Captain. I don’t need it.”  
Mikasa gasped and threw it down. “Clay!? What are you doing!? Please don’t tell me you’re gonna – “  
She was cut off when he suddenly pulled her in and kissed her deeply. He held her against him for a moment before leaning to her ear and whispering, “I promise I’m not going to die.”  
Mikasa felt tears come to her eyes and she asked, “Then tell me what you’re doing. What are you going to do? Clay…”  
“I’m going to win.” Clay told her, letting her go and running towards Reiner.

Leah shouted, “Mizuki is about to transform back! Someone has to save her!”  
Levi’s hands were clenched. If only he had his gear… he could go back in for her. But he would not send in another soldier to risk their lives. His hands trembled. He had to… He had to…   
“Eren.” Levi stood to his feet. “Transform, now. We no longer have any other options. Demi, you distract Reiner. Lead him further down the wall. The rest of you! Switch to your gear and start climbing down. Retreat back to the inner walls!”  
Leah yelled at him. “We can’t leave her here to die!”  
“We’re not leaving her!” Levi retorted. “Now follow your orders!”  
“If we don’t go after the Colossal Titan then as soon as Mizuki transforms back, she’s going to – “  
A huge bolt of lightning slammed down between them and the Titans. The aftershock sent nearly all of them flying backwards. Leah and Armin slid back, but Demi caught them both. Levi wrapped his arms around Kana and stopped her from being blown away.  
When the smoke cleared, Mikasa was walking towards them. She held her arm out, handing the gear to Levi. “Here, this is for you, Captain.”  
Levi stared at her in shock. “Where did that come from?”  
Kana smirked and raised her remaining hand. “Good… that bastard finally snapped out of it.”  
All of them looked up, eyes wide. Before them, a Titan about the size of Reiner was facing them. This Titan had short navy blue almost black hair that was lifted away from his face by the wind. He clenched his hands into fists and let out a loud roar. Suddenly he ran forward and raised a fist, looking like he was going to take a swing at Reiner, but instead, his arm kept going, catching Burt’s wrist that was holding Mizuki. As he slowly started pulling on his arm, Mizuki transformed out of her glove form.  
Mizuki gasped and started yelling, “Go New Titan! Go!”  
Clay squeezed Burts wrist and ripped his hand clear off. Carefully, he uncurled the fingers, freeing Mizuki. Mizuki hurriedly jumped out of the dismembered hand and ran up Clay’s arm and sat on his shoulder. “Now kill them!”

Armin was staring with wide eyes. “Where did that new Titan come from?”  
“It’s… Clay.” Mikasa whispered.  
“Clay is a Titan!?” Leah shouted. “But…!”  
“He’s buying us the time we need to get away, now lets go.” Demi ordered. “I’ll stay back and help protect – “ She gasped when a breeze flew over their heads.  
Reiner had suddenly shot forward and grabbed a hold of Eren. With a loud roar, he ran over the top of them and jumped off the wall.  
“He’s going to escape!” Mikasa yelled.  
Demi’s eyes darkened and she triggered her gear. The spear stabbed into Reiner’s shoulder and reeled her in. She raised her hands, a giant green scythe forming in them. She went to cut out the back of Reiner’s neck, but he turned and punched her, smashing her body into the wall.  
Demi coughed up blood, feeling every bone in her body shattered. It would take a few moments to reform. Dammit all… Eren….

Levi finished putting on his gear and then kneeled back down as Leah finished wrapping up Kana’s arm. Kana touched the nub that was left of her arm and gritted her teeth. Mizuki was too far away and too weak to heal her any time soon.  
Leah looked up at the Captain. “All of our Slayers are down.”  
“We still have you.” Levi argued.  
“But I can’t do anything!” With wide eyes, Leah looked at Clay who had temporarily knocked Burt’s Titan unconscious and was now jumping down to Reiner. “I’m no help.”  
Jean glared at her. “Everyone here is of help.” He looked at Tsuki and his eyes saddened. “We need to get them out of harms way before they get hurt anymore.”  
Levi looked at Christa and Ymir. “All of you and any soldiers we have that are remaining, take the wounded down the wall, now!” He stood up and reached his hand out to Leah. “Come with me, we’ll have to distract Reiner so that Clay can fight and until Demi can as well.”  
Leah nodded and looked back at the others. She was more than relieved to see Armin following the others out of danger, off the wall. She paused at the edge and looked down. Clay was throwing punch after punch at Reiner, but nothing was doing any good. The other Titan’s punches weren’t enough to break through that armor.  
“We can’t help him. We have to have a way to break his armor.” Leah explained. “If I had a weapon…”  
Levi leaned off the edge. “Stay here until I give you another order. We have to wait for an opening. For now, I’ll try to cripple him so Clay can get him. If the fight gets too out of hand, retreat back with the others.”  
Leah started to argue when Levi jumped, using his gear to reel himself in to the nearest tree. Whe he landed, he saw Demi laying on the ground. Her hands were moving, but she was far from regenerating.

Clay threw a fist at Reiner, but he ducked and grabbed the Titan’s elbow and flipped him over. Clay let out a roar when he hit the ground, but spun around and kicked Reiner’s legs out from under him. Reiner dropped to one knee and Levi shot forward, spinning around Reiner’s leg and cutting between the plates of armor. He kept going, reeling himself back to the wall while the Armored Titan reached out, trying to grab him.  
When he came to a stop, he saw another person jump off the top of the wall. Mikasa challenged, “I will help.”  
Levi nodded. “Follow my lead. Between a battle of two Titans, the last thing we should do is get in the way.” As he spoke, Reiner tackled Clay up against the wall. They dodged out of the way but Reiner started punching at him.  
Mikasa gasped and shouted, “We can cut him off at the elbows!”  
“No!” Levi yelled. “His guard is up, stay back!”   
Clay was able to get an arm up around Reiner’s neck and flipped him to the ground and stomped on his face. After a couple blows, Reiner got his arms up around Clay’s thigh and flipped him back. He rolled up so he was sitting up. He was about to pin Clay down when a green blur shot out of the ground.  
Demi flew up past Reiner’s neck, using her scythe to rip off the armor without even slowing down. She caught herself on the wall and yelled, “Clay! Finish him!”  
Clay roared and started to sit up when there was a loud noise from the top of the wall.  
They all looked up as the Colossal Titan came falling down on top of them. Demi’s eyes widened and she jumped towards the two titans. “Look out!!”  
There was suddenly a burst of flames and all of them were forced back by a microbust of wind.


	56. Fight, Fight, Fight

Demi awoke with a start. She looked quickly around and saw that everyone who had been on the wall were all in a small area, most of them getting treated for burns.  
She saw that Tsuki was awake again, healing cuts and whatnot where she could. But Demi could see that it was still draining her. It took every ounce of energy she had to heal even the smallest of injuries. All around she looked, but she didn’t see the one person she was looking for. She ran up to Tsuki and yelled, “Where is Eren!?”  
“Eren was kidnapped. Along with Clay and Ymir.” Mikasa stated, walking out of one of the tents. Her gaze was emotionless, but Demi could sense the rage boiling below the surface.  
“Then why are we all sitting around!?” Demi screamed.  
“Because we were ordered to.” Leah answered from her other side. “The superiors are in the tent discussing what we should do.”  
“We should save him!” Demi screamed.  
Jean touched Tsuki’s back. “You should take it easy, you’re wearing yourself out.”  
“There’s too many that I have to help…” Tsuki protested, but her body fell limply against his.  
“You can’t help them if you wear yourself out to the point you can’t function. Just rest, please, Tsukiko.”  
“O-okay…”

Hanji was rewrapping up Kana’s arm inside of the tent. Levi and the rest of them had filled Erwin in on the situation and now he was pacing, deciding how to procede. Levi commented, “There’s plenty of soldiers among the trainees that want to chase after them. Those brats don’t care about anything excepting finding out why they were betrayed.”  
“That could either help or hinder us.” Erwin stated. “As is, I’m not sure I want a bunch of kids with raging emotions chasing after Titans.”  
“Or it can fuel them.” Levi stated. “Losing Eren is too big of a blow. We can’t allow it to happen.”  
Hanji looked up as well. “Most likely, their destination is beyond wall Maria. Our supply line will take us there, but we won’t make it if they get past. We’ve already lost five hours.”  
“Which is why we can’t screw up.” Erwin explained. “We get one shot. We’re chasing five titans here. Five intelligent Titans.” Erwin shot a look at Levi. “We saw what happened when we fought just one.”  
Levi physically flinched and turned his gaze away. Kana finally spoke up. “We can’t be hasty. There’s no doubt about that. But sitting around too long and hoping for the best won’t win this war. The fact is, we’re outmatched. A thousand warriors wouldn’t be able to take down five Titans. But you can’t win if you don’t fight.”  
“Then what do you propose we do?” Erwin demanded shortly.  
“Three of the five Titans are on our side.” Kana stated. “We think. If we free them before taking on the other two, we might win.”  
“How do you suppose we get them without confronting the Titans?” Erwin asked. “They’re not going to just hand them over politely.”  
Kana glared at him. “Hanji, haven’t you stated that any Titan who transforms takes a while to recover their energy? After being transformed so long, they have to be low on energy. The sooner we go after them, the more time we have to get them back. The key would be to strike before they can return to their Titan forms.”  
“When they’re not in their Titan forms, they’d be susceptible to attacks from other Titans.” Hanji explained. “Reiner proved that at Castle Utgard.”  
“Which means they have no more advantage than we do.” Levi explained. “They’ll be avoiding Titan attacks as well.”  
“Alright, fine.” Erwin agreed. “We need to launch our attack now. However, we still have one question to answer. Where are they going? We can’t attack them if we don’t know where they’re at.”  
“I can figure it out.” Kana piped up suddenly. “Mizuki is still with Clay. I can just faintly hear her voice. It’ll grow louder the closer we get.”  
“Alright. Then you’ll take the front line with the rest of the Slayers.” Erwin ordered.  
“No!” Levi argued suddenly. They turned to him and Levi retorted, “She’s injured. Place her deeper in the formation.”  
“She has to be at the front to guide us, Levi.” Erwin snapped back. “It’s not up for negotiation. She is the weapon for humanity to use. So we’ll use her.” He turned to Hanji and ordered. “Get a team set up to barricade the wall while we’re gone. Levi, prepare the rest of the men for battle. We set out in thirty minutes.” He followed Hanji out of the tent.  
Kana stood up and touched Levi’s sleeve. “I’ll be alright. I promise.”  
“How can you be so calm? Your weapon is in the hands of the enemy. If she’s hurt, then you’ll – “  
“Be just like everyone else.” Kana’s expression voided itself of emotion. “All of these soldiers, including you, are out on the battle field every day, knowing very well they can die. How could I face myself if I cowered out of the danger zone because I was capable of losing my life?”  
He was staring at the ground and whispered, “The only reason I can handle you being on the battlefield is the notion that you can’t die. If you ever did…” His hands clenched, trembling. Kana took his fist, remembering when she was about to die so many times. Every time that she did, he was trying to save her and most of the time, died with her. She hated that he felt the way he did. But it gave her the motivation to live. She couldn’t die, because if she did, as he had so many times, so would he.  
“We’ll be okay.” Kana assured.

Demi yanked the cinch tighter on her horse and let out a huff. She was so mad that she couldn’t even hide it. Her body was still healing from the massive burn it took from the Colossal Titan’s microburst. She also couldn’t believe she’d allowed Eren to fall into Reiner’s hands. A snake slithered over her saddle and stared at her.  
Demi glared. “I know, Sarthis. I know that I need to calm down. But right now, I just – “  
“So that’s your weapon?” Kana asked. “I thought you struck me as a snake-kind of person. You’re anxious, aren’t you?”  
“Of course I am!” Demi snapped. She looked down at the fender of her saddle and let her forehead fall on the seat. “I’m not normally like this. But Eren was the first person… the first person that wanted me around. He told me I’d be good in the Survey Corps. I know it isn’t much… but…” Demi’s gaze softened and tears formed. “No one has ever paid attention to me. No one’s ever acknowledged my skills. He was the first. I can’t control that my heart… it just… it wants him now. No matter how insignificant that conversation was.”  
“Then, when we bring him back, you can tell him.” Kana told her.  
Demi looked her up and down and started to say something when Leah and Tsuki walked up. Leah stated, “Captain Levi told us that we’re going to be on the front line. Isn’t that kind of weird. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you, Kana. Maybe you should tell him – “  
“I have to be up front.” Kana told her. “I’m the only one who can find them. I have to listen for Mizuki. She’ll give me their location.”  
“But you’re…” Leah looked down at where Kana’s arm ended. “Will you be okay?”  
“I’ll be fine. I’ll heal once we get Mizuki back.” Kana told her. “But I’ll be riding with you, Leah, okay?”  
When Leah nodded, Jean walked up with two horses and handed one to Tsuki. “Here. We’re about to set out.”  
“Thanks, Jean.” Tsuki flashed him a warm smile.  
Kana felt her stomach knot up. The scene was too familiar to her. It seemed like centuries ago, but really it hadn’t been that long. A month ago, she remembered Levi doing the same for her. When she first set out with his squad.   
The squad that was now dead.  
Kana turned and her voice cracked when she ordered, “Let’s go, guys.”

“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” Mizuki ordered, pulling on Clay’s hair.  
Clay glared up at her and softly asked, “What is it, Mizuki?”  
“You’re going too fast!” Mizuki yipped. “Kana won’t catch up.”  
“I know.” Clay grumbled. Reiner and Burt had forced him to comply. The two of them had Ymir and Eren strapped to their backs. They had taken Ymir’s gear and given it to him so he could follow. If he didn’t do as they said, then they’d start a fight and one way or another, Mizuki would end up the victim.  
The little black haired girl kept pulling on his bangs. “Slow, slow, slow!”  
Reiner yelled at her, “Quiet down! The point is that they don’t catch up, kid!”  
Mizuki puffed her cheeks and started smacking Clay’s forehead. “Thanks for saving me back there, New Titan. But when are you gonna take me back?”  
“You don’t get to go back.” Clay answered. “As long as you’re alive, Kana won’t die. But that’s all we can do for now. We have to follow these guys.”  
Mizuki raised a hand. “I’ll kill them! That’s what I do. I kill Titans.”  
“Yes, I know Mizuki.” Clay told her and then looked at the other two. He noticed that Eren was shifting, struggling against Reiner to get free, while Ymir wasn’t. She just calmly clung to Burt.  
Reiner suddenly spoke up and caught him off guard. “I can’t figure you out, Clay. Why did you turn on us back there? You were supposed to remain under your cover. Then, for a while I really thought you were fighting against me.”  
Clay gritted his teeth. He had to come up with some kind of excuse. The only way he was going to help the others was if he stayed where he was, tricking them into thinking he was on their side. Clay retorted, “Kana figured out I was a Titan. If I didn’t do something, she was going to blow my cover and turn me over to the Brigade as one of you. I had to put on a show. I had to make it look like I was fighting you guys.”  
“Well, you did a damn good job of it.” Reiner stated. Then he looked over at Ymir. “I know it’s a waste of time trying to talk sense into Eren, but Ymir, why don’t you join us? You know there’s no future left within the walls.”  
Clay looked expectantly at the woman who started to challenge what they were fighting for.


	57. The Color of Lavender

Kana had her arm wrapped around Leah’s waist. There was a consistant ringing in her ears, but otherwise, it was totally quiet in the open plain. There were a few trees every now and then, but not enough to hope to have a successful battle with the Titans. Behind them, with Tsuki and Demi on either side of them, the entire Survey Corps and a good chunk of the military police were running.  
She yelled back at Erwin. “Why are the Military Police here?”  
“We’re short handed at the moment.” Erwin shouted back. “We need their back up.”  
“Their back up? Is that a joke? They’re Titan food! They don’t know what they’re doing! You’re just wasting lives!” Kana yelled, her eyes narrowed in anger.  
Erwin met her glare and challenged, “Shouldn’t you be focusing on finding the Titans?”  
Kana looked back forward, but so far she wasn’t really picking up anything. A few minutes later, the ringing in her ears suddenly stopped.  
Kana!  
Kana’s eyes widened and her left eye glowed suddenly. She jerked her head to the right where she heard the noise come from. The forest of giant trees was off in the distance and inside of it she saw five red orbs and one purple. “They’re in the forest of Giant trees!”  
Erwin raised his hand and shot a green signal flare in the direction of the trees. They all suddenly took a turn. As soon as they did, Kana’s attention was pulled to the field closer to them. Her eyes narrowed. “Shit…”  
Leah shouted back, “There’s a huge pack of Titans running towards us!”  
All of the soldiers started drawing their blades. Several of them all switched to gear and attacked the oncoming Titans head on, while a few like Erwin, kept pushing around them, he shouted, “Do not engage if you do not have to! We’re on a time restriction! Our priority is getting around them!”  
As he shouted it, some Titans started running towards them. Several Brigade soldiers were scooped up and fed to the Titans. Kana snarled, “See!”  
“Just keep running.” Erwin ordered.  
When Kana looked back, she saw that there was a wall of Titans headed for them. There were too many. Leah handed Kana the reins and said, “Here. Be careful.” She jumped off and reeled herself up to the first Titan where a well placed blow knocked him down, tripping several of the Titans so the Brigade officers could run around.  
Tsuki started to get off her horse, but when she did, she collapsed back down in the saddle. She gritted her teeth. “I don’t have enough energy. I won’t be any use here…”  
“Then stay down. Let us work this time. You saved us a hundred times already. We’ll step up to our game this time.” Kana assured her. She looked back up, seeing a Titan going in to body slam her and her horse when a green lighting bolt shot by and cut out the back of its neck.  
Demi kept flying on, cutting down the Titans one by one, screaming, “Get the fuck out of my way!!!”  
Kana smirked. “I think we can handle this.” She saw more switching to gear and chopping them up like Hanji and Levi.  
Erwin kept leading the formation.  
Leah jumped off the head of one of the Titans and on to the next. No matter how many they cut up, the numbers weren’t decreasing. There were just too many. Erwin was right, fighting them would be pointless. The only way they’d catch up with the others is if they just kept running. But how many would die?  
Picked off without a fight?  
Her eyes widened when she saw one of the Titans grab a hold of a couple soldiers. She was the closest one to them. She used her gear and reeled herself to the neck of the Titan, but on the way she was grabbed around the waist by one she hadn’t seen lingering between them. She gagged on her own breath as the hand squeezed her ribs.  
She didn’t have a weapon. She could really die.  
Panic set in and she struggled to break free of the grasp but it wasn’t loosening. She reached out, her eyes widening when the soldiers she’d gone to save were eaten right before her eyes. Her stomach wrenched in pain. Why can’t she sense these things anymore?  
What was wrong with her?  
Wait… she was gonna –   
You don’t want to lose anymore, do you?  
Leah’s eyes widened and she stopped completely. The voice sounded so familiar to her. But she hadn’t ever heard it before. It spoke again, Don’t you want to stop being scared? Join the ranks of the Slayers and fight against the enemies of Humanity!?  
“Are you my weapon?” Leah begged to the voice around her. “Please! I want to save everyone! I don’t want anyone else to die!”  
As you wish, Leah.  
Kana reined her horse to a stop in the middle of the chaos. She had spotted Leah getting caught and turned back, but now she was staring at the ground in front of her. It was crumbling in an almost perfect circle. Broken pieces were flipping up and a dark form pulled itself out of the ground.  
A woman about her age was lifting herself up. Her body was cast in shadow and she flipped her head back as she finally pulled herself out of the ground. She stood there for just a moment before exploding into nothing but air and a huge gust of wind flew right up towards Leah.  
Leah let out a scream just as she was about to be thrown into the Titans mouth. A huge burst of white exploded around her and the Titan’s head was ripped in half at the jaw. Leah jumped back out but she was surrounded by plates of lavender metal hovering around her body in a spherical formation. Lavender plates were also on her forearms, legs, and around her head as a helmet.  
But she was falling.  
Kana ran her horse around, catching her friend and pulling her up on. Now the plates were hovering around both of them. Kana’s eyes widened. “Leah, you awakened.”  
Leah was gripping Kana’s shirt tightly as they ran through the Titans that could no longer get through the shield created by her weapon.  
Tsuki fell in stride with them. “Leah, you’re amazing! That was great!” She watched as the shield reached out and surrounded her as well, like a big bubble. “This is so cool…” She looked ahead. “Now we really can just plow through those damn Titans.”  
Erwin watched them a moment and then ordered, “Slayers! Come with me! We will engage the five intelligent titans. The rest of you distract the Titans trying to swarm.”  
Hanji glared at him. “Bastard… he’s using us for bait.”  
“Would you expect anything different?” Levi asked, but his gaze went to Kana. Leah and Demi were the only functional Slayers. And Leah had only just awakened. Would that be enough for the battle to come?

Inside the forest, Erwin glared back when he saw more soldiers following them. Jean, Connie, Mikasa, Christa, and a few others were giving chase. He ordered, “Go back to where you were supposed to be!”  
“Sir!” Jean argued. “This is our friend that betrayed us. Please allow us to be the ones to engage him! We want to hear for ourselves that he’s our enemy.”  
As Kana was looking back at them, she noticed that Connie’s hand had returned, but with only a small amount of damage. That must be the real reason Tsuki was so tired. She had used up what little energy she had left to give Connie back his hand before it was too late.  
Erwin gritted his teeth. “Fine.”  
For a while, the forest was quiet.  
Mizuki’s voice was getting louder, but that was it.  
They looked up in time to see the same Titan from before – Ymir’s Titan – jump onto one of the trees in front of them. Kana stated, “She’s alone. The rest of them are stopped at the edge of the forest.”  
“Then do not slow. Keep going.” Erwin ordered.  
“She’s on our side anyway.” Connie looked up at Ymir and shouted, “We’re going to stop Burt and Reiner! Help us!”  
Ymir stared at them in the strangest way when suddenly she shot down towards them. She opened her huge mouth and swallowed Christa whole.  
Jean and Connie gasped in surprise. Tsuki yelled, “Ymir! What are you doing!?” The little Titan flipped back up into the trees and rushed after Burt and Reiner and the others.  
Erwin growled, “So she’s on their side. Their target was also Christa.”  
“Why?” Leah asked.  
“It doesn’t matter!” Kana growled. “Follow her. Take them all down.”  
Connie was shouting in a panicked voice, “Why of all people, would she eat Christa!?”  
“We don’t know.” Tsuki told him. “Just stay focused.”  
Kana followed the red aura through the forest, and it wasn’t long before it met up with the other red auras. They were starting to close in on it when one of the red auras suddenly expanded into its Titan form.  
The rest jumped on his shoulders and they reached the edge of the forest. Erwin gritted his teeth. “Shit.”  
The rest of the soldiers who survived whoaed to a stop along side the rest of them. Levi demanded, “What are your orders, Commander? At this rate, he’ll – “  
“Don’t stop!” Erwin yelled at them all. “Charge!!”  
All of them kicked their horses into top speed and ran as fast at they could after the massive Titan.


	58. Escape

Jean grumbled, “This is bad. Our gear won’t work outside of the forest.”  
Connie looked at him. “Then we’ll have to talk to them and snap them out of this!”  
“It won’t do any good.” Tsuki told them. “I tried in every version of our first battle. We can’t talk them out of it.”  
“Then what do we do!?” Leah asked. “Tsuki is the only one who can fly and she’s too weak to summon Amaak.”  
“Commander?” Levi asked, looking at Erwin.  
“This will be a suicide mission without a plan.” Hanji told him.  
From over their shoulders, a herd of Titans came running through the forest and after them. Leah gasped, “Incoming!”  
Demi gritted her teeth, glaring at the armored Titan. “Eren… We’ll get you.” She looked at the other Slayers and yelled, “If you get me close enough, I’ll kill this bastard!”  
“It’s too dangerous alone.” Tsuki told her. “All four of us could barely stand up to him. And several times, we didn’t.”  
“I don’t care!” Demi shouted. “They won’t take Eren!”  
Mikasa told Demi, “If you get up there and free Clay, he’ll help you.”  
“No he won’t.” Kana snapped.  
“What?” Mikasa asked.  
Kana glared ahead. She had been listening through Mizuki at the conversation they’d been having. She knew what Clay was planning. He had to play the bad guy. “I can’t explain now, but Clay won’t be helping us this time.”  
“Is he our enemy as well?” Erwin demanded. “Are we fighting four Titans?”  
Kana’s eyes narrowed. “Yes.”  
Behind them, the Titans began to run after them. Most of the soldiers in the back were picked off. Hanji shouted at Erwin, “Do you still just want us to keep running blindly?”  
“We’ll split up.” Erwin ordered. “Half of you engage the Armored Titan, the rest of you will join me and distract the rest of the Titans.”  
“Distractions?” Levi demanded. “That will only get more soldiers killed.”  
A dark look came to Erwin’s gaze as he snapped, “I know.” He pulled away and a handful of soldiers followed him.  
Kana looked back up at Reiner and saw the distance he’d put on them. “We won’t catch up. We need a way to slow him down.”  
Leah gasped when a voice spoke to her, We can slow him down. Summon me. She suddenly tapped Kana’s shoulder. “I think I can do it. My weapon says we can.”  
“Then summon it.” Kana ordered. “I promise you, no matter what, you can always trust your weapon.”  
“H-How…?” Leah asked.  
“Let it take you.” Kana told her.  
Leah closed her eyes and she felt herself in a void. In this void, another being lingered, but it had no shape. No body, no form. It spoke, May I have you?  
Leah let out a slow breath: Yes.  
Just like that, the white light erupted around her again, but this time it melted down to form a huge bow in her hands. The length of the bow was longer than the horse and it drug the ground as the horse ran. Leah gasped and stood up so that she wasn’t jerked off. Kana used her good arm to brace her friend and stared at the huge bow. “Wh-what is that!?”  
Hanji squealed. “That’s a hunting bow! It makes for an excellent distance projectile!”  
There was a shout from behind them. Connie was looking up at the hand of a Titan about to grab him. Levi jumped off his horse and used his gear to fly by, cut off the Titan’s hand, then at its knees and swing by. He growled, “There were too many Titans, they all didn’t follow Erwins group.”  
Tsuki told Leah, “Hurry up and fire! It’s getting too dangerous, we can’t drag this out!”  
Leah was trembling, struggling to stay balanced as she stood on the back of the horse. “I-I can’t fire. I have a bow, but no arrow…!”  
“Ah…!” Kana gasped with surprise. An incomplete weapon?  
Demi raised her hand. “I’ve got you covered. Sarthis.” A giant green light formed in her hand and turned into a massive metal arrow. She threw it over to Leah. “Make this count, Leah. Strike him down so that I can save Eren!”  
Leah flinched when a piece of Titan flew over her head. Hanji and Levi were covering the squad while they ran. She really didn’t have that much time. Everything relied on these moments. She placed the green weapon in the slot of her lavender bow and took aim. It would be useless to strike at Reiner’s neck. One dodge would not only waste her single shot, but would be easily avoidable to be able to keep running. That’s where he’d be expecting anyway.  
She lowered her aim. She had to strike at his knee. In order for him to keep the distance, he had to run. Besides, he was slow and most likely wouldn’t able to get out of the path in time.  
Leah drew her bow and let out a long breath. “Do not let me miss…”  
Kana looked to her right, seeing a Titan had gotten through and tried to attack them, but the lavender metal plates moved and blocked the Titan, causing it to roll harmlessly away.  
Leah let the arrow fly.  
The green metal broke through the Titan’s protective armor and pierced almost half way into his leg. Reiner stumbled and his pace slowed dramatically.  
Leah released her breath. “I didn’t bring him down, but he’s slowed up now! We can catch him!”  
Demi snarled. “That’s all I need!” She pushed her horse harder and started loping several horselengths ahead of them.  
Kana ordered, “Don’t get reckless Demi!”  
Demi jumped up and used her gear. The spear stabbed into Reiner’s back near where Burt was hanging on with Eren on his back. She started to reel herself up to him when Ymir’s Titan form yanked the wire out of Reiner’s back. Demi flipped in the air and used her other wire, winking it into Ymir herself.  
She came in too quickly and raised her hand. Sarthis evaporated his arrow form and morphed to Demi’s hand as a giant axe. With one swing, she cut out Ymir’s eye. She spun and went to land another hit when she caught sight of Eren waking up. She shouted, “Eren!”  
He looked up but Burt suddenly darted around to the front of Reiner’s neck. He shouted, “Reiner! Protect us!”  
Clay shouted, “Demi! Back off! You’re only going to – “ He gasped when Reiner grabbed him and pinned him inside of his hands against his neck as well. Clay started kicking the Armored Titan’s hand. “Let me out, dammit!”  
Burt grabbed his arm. “You’re pretending to be on their side, remember? So you have to act like you’re stuck in here against your will.”  
Clay’s hands were clenching into fists. Mizuki pulled on his hair, “Are you Good Titan or Bad Titan, New Titan?”  
Demi was kicking Reiner’s hands. “Open up you stupid son of a bitch! Give me Eren right now!!”

Tsuki gasped when the rest of the team all shot up towards Reiner’s neck. “Wait! It’s too dangerous!”

Eren was pushing against Burt with all his strength, but Burt shouted at him, “Eren stop! Don’t struggle!”  
Jean mocked, “That’s not going to work. He’s loud and no one can stop him. I know that quite well. I hate him, too, after all!”  
“Now come out!” Demi snarled.  
Mikasa was hanging on a finger and yelled, “Clay, are you in there!? Are you okay?”  
Clay’s eyes widened a bit. He assured, “Yeah, I’m fine…”  
“Can’t you transform and break out?” Mikasa asked.  
Clay gritted his teeth. “I can’t. I’m too weak. I can’t change back yet.”  
Connie felt tears in his eyes as he asked, “Was it all a lie!? You were fooling us all along, weren’t you?”  
Armin asked, “Are you guys really trying to get away like this?”  
Jean pressed, “Come on. We’re comrades that shared hardships under a single roof three years ago, remember? You always slept in the weirdest ways. We’d guess how you were going to wake up the next morning. We’d even try to predict the weather. But all the while, you were sleeping soundly, weren’t you? Considering you were a predetor amongst their victims!”  
“Was it all a lie? When we said we’d grow to be old men and drink together?” Connie demanded.  
“Who cares!?” Demi yelled. “None of that fucking matters! Just cut their necks! If you hesitate at all, then you’ll miss your chance and you won’t get another!”  
Mikasa narrowed her eyes as well. “They’re a plague upon mankind and that’s all we need to know.”  
Burt suddenly yelled out from inside of Reiner’s hands. “Who do you think really wants to kill people!? Who likes doing something like this!? Who wants to do this!? Even if we’re killed, we only did what was natural for us. What has been done can’t be undone! We can’t be forgiven. It wasn’t all a lie. It’s true we may have deceived everyone, but it wasn’t a lie. Only the time we spent as a soldier was enjoyable to us. I really did think of us as comrades, but somebody. I’m begging… somebody please understand us. I can’t give Eren back. Someone… has to stain their hands in blood…”  
“Hey brats!”  
They all looked over at Levi. He looked calm, but at the same time, he wasn’t. He ordered, “Get down from there. Now!”  
They turned their attention ahead of them.  
Hanji shouted, “What the hell is he thinking!? What is he trying to do!?”  
A huge mass of Titans were running towards them, straight at the armored Titan and the rest of them. They were being lead by Erwin.


	59. Breaking Off

Levi gritted his teeth, running his horse close to Kana’s. “What is he thinking? Was he so sure we couldn’t do this?”  
Kana glanced at Levi before looking back ahead. “Levi… I don’t trust him.”  
“Huh?”  
“There’s something… off… about Commander Erwin. I can only sense Slayers and Titans… but I’m good at reading people. Something about him makes me feel… unsettled. I don’t trust him one bit.” Kana explained.  
Levi looked ahead, but remained silent.  
As the horde of Titans surrounded the group at Reiner’s hands, they all jumped off. All except one. Demi was still swinging her weapon at Reiner’s hands, trying to break through to get to Eren. It was slowly breaking through the armor, but it would be much too late by the time she got through. She was so furious, tears were coming to her eyes. “Let him go! I won’t let anyone else be taken from me you bastard!!!”  
The Titans were climbing up Reiner’s body now. So many piled up that they weighed him down until he was at a standstill.  
Most of the soldiers watched from a distance. Some titans were giving chase. Levi, Jean, Hanji, and some others were fighting them off. Kana pulled her reins up close to her chest, looking up at Demi trying to get into Reiner’s hands.  
Tsuki pulled her horse to a stop next to her. “She won’t stop. She’s in a blind rage.”  
“We have to get her out of there.” Kana told her. “I know she won’t die, but she’ll be ripped apart at this rate. I don’t want anyone else to endure a pain like that.”  
Tsuki’s gaze went to Kana’s arm – or rather, where her arm should have been – and asked, “Don’t we need to get Mizuki out as well?”  
“She’ll be fine.” Kana told her. “First we need to – “  
“If I had an arrow, I could puncture his hands.” Leah stated from behind them. “But Demi is too blind to let me have Sarthis.”  
Kana hissed at her. “I find it hard to believe there is an incomplete weapon. Try talking to her.”  
“Her?” Leah questioned. “It was a male voice.”  
Kana stared at her. “But she took the form of a female.”  
I have no form.  
All of the Slayers looked up when they heard a voice from the sky speak suddenly.  
Once, I did, but it died long ago. I live on as a spirit of the sky. I create the elements of nature. I can create physical objects, but I, myself, have no form. I made a form similar to the rest of you, was that wrong?  
Tsuki laughed. “You definitely sound male. Your voice sounds like the narrator from one of those action movies. It’s deep.”  
A titan collapsed beside them and Kana looked up in time to see Levi used his wire to slide along the ground and trip a small titan. He spun, reeling himself across its neck and back to the titan he was connected to. He cut out its neck and landed on the ground beside them. “There a reason you’re all just standing around with those stupid as shit expressions?”  
“We’re talking to the sky.” Tsuki laughed.  
Levi glared – he wasn’t in the mood for humor.  
Kana explained. “Leah’s weapon may have a way for us to get Eren away from the Titans. We’re listening to him.”  
“That makes more sense.” Levi stated, looking over as more soldiers struck down titans. He told them, “Hurry it up. We’re losing too many soldiers.”  
Kana looked up, ignoring the Captains hasty comments. She knew that he just wanted as few people to die as possible. “So can you help us? What’s your name?”  
Djovvaak.  
Tsuki’s face twisted up as she tried to repeat it. “Dish… of what?”  
Dish-of-auk.  
“Okay. Now, can you help us? Our friend is stuck with those Titans!” Leah explained.  
I provide you with the bow, Princess Leah. Your energy, honed, is my arrow. You must concentrate and you can create an impenetrable arrow carved from your own Slayer energy.  
Leah smiled. “R-Really?” She stood up on her horse, gasping when a titan collapsed beside her and she nearly fell off.  
Erwin rushed up on his horse and ordered, “You Slayers need to get in there. Create an opening for us to get back Eren.”  
“That’s what we’re about to do, Commander.” Tsuki told him, her blue eyes going to Leah who was standing up straight now. She held her hands out, a massive bow forming within them.  
For a moment, Leah closed her eyes and willed an arrow to form. Sure enough, a blazing lavender arrow was created in her hands. She drew it and took aim. This time, she would have to be absolutely perfect. If she was off at all, she would either kill those inside the hands, hit Demi, or miss completely.  
Steadying herself, she took a careful aim.  
Everything went quiet around her. Titans danced in a song of death. Soldiers screamed their final cries. Bodies were strewn to lay forevermore.  
She released the arrow.  
It was a blast of lightning across the sky.  
Demi’s eyes widened as the arrow penetrated below her hands. It broke Reiner’s middle fingers, ripping them clean off. For a moment, Demi’s heart stopped. She leaned down and looked inside, trying to reach in. “ERen!? Are you okay!?”  
Eren looked over. He tried to answer her call around the gag. To his horror, he watched her ripped away by another titan. Demi struggled but one had gotten a hold of her lower body the other of her upper arm.  
She felt every bone in her body snapping as they started pulling at her limbs. She screamed over and over. At least she’d seen him. Eren was alive.   
She tried to form her weapon in her arms, but she couldn’t focus. The pain was distorting her thoughts. First her arm was ripped clean off, then she felt the twisting of her ribs as more Titans grabbed at her and pulled in all directions. She coughed up blood, one got her foot. She screamed to the heavens in agony, but nothing would stop the torture until she was finally killed.  
One Titan got a hold of her neck. All she heard was the snap.

Erens eyes were wide with rage and he struggled harder than ever against Burt. Clay dodged flying kicks and looked at Mizuki. There was just enough gap that she could get out. He grabbed the girl by the collar and leaned his arm out through the hole where his finger should have been. Shouting as loud as he could, he flipped the girl around in the air, “KANA!!!! TAKE YOUR PEST BACK!!!”  
Kana looked up when she heard her name shouted. An arm was sticking out between Reiner’s fingers. It had Mizuki on the end. Her eyes widened with relief to see her weapon again. Then she was pulled back in and her heart paused. The black haired girl was suddenly thrown out of the hole and high into the air. Kana let out a scream, “MIZUKI!!!”  
Kana gasped when she was slammed into from behind, an arm around her waist. Levi hissed into her ear, “You only get one shot, don’t miss it.” His gear was hooked onto the back of one titan and he was using it as momentum. When they reached the end of the wire, they were suddenly sling-shotted back towards Mizuki flying through the air. Levi entered a spin half way through and threw her with all his force as soon as he hit the end of the wire.  
Kana slammed into Mizuki and a red light burst forth around them. A huge black glove covered in spikes and claws was covering the arm she lost. But Kana’s momentum never slowed down. She kept spinning in the air so she took on what looked like the form of a shuriken flying through the air.   
As she flew by Reiner, her claws sank into the armor protecting the back of Reiner’s neck. She ripped it right off and the pieces flew through the air. She kept going, but stopped spinning to look back at her handiwork.  
Levi flew right in behind her, swords ready. He drew them, ready to cut Reiner right out of the back of his neck, but the Armored Titan raised his hand and protected his weak spot. When Levi’s swords met with the hand, they shattered. Levi cursed and kept flying, reeling himself in to another Titan.  
He flew by Kana, reaching out to catch her since she didn’t have her gear on. She turned, reaching back out for him, but their finger tips only brushed. Levi’s eyes widened and he shouted, “Kana!!!”  
She fell through the air, straight into the pack of Titans. Kana gritted her teeth and prepared herself to be snagged by one of them. To her surprise, she only felt a small but sharp pain in her shoulder and she was flying through the air. She was slammed into the same tree that Levi caught himself on.  
He lowered himself and stared at her in shock. Through her shoulder was a lavender arrow. Kana coughed up blood and laughed. “Better than being eaten alive…” The arrow evaporated and Kana started to slip back down but Levi caught her and looked back over his shoulder when he heard Erwin give the order to charge.


	60. Flying

Demi’s body was slowly reforming. She was looking up at Reiner now. He had moved his hands to fend off titans and block from Levi cutting him out. Now was her chance. She was forgotten about down here. She could see Burt clinging to Reiner’s collarbone; Eren on his back. She could kill him and take Eren back.  
She could do it…  
Demi’s fingers twitched and Sarthis, in the form of a green cobra, slithered over to her, following her command. The green snake coiled around her body and for a moment, the two of them glowed green. She sat up and raised her hand, a huge green shuriken forming in it. Barely able to move her broken body, she forced herself up and threw the weapon with all her might.  
Burt saw it in the very last moment and went to dodge it. But Clay grabbed him by the collar and hissed, “I don’t think so.” He threw him back in the way of the shuriken so that the belt holding Eren to his back was cut apart.  
Eren dropped quickly towards the ground and the other titans. Demi finished reforming and jumped up, barely catching him in her weakened arms and falling down against the Armored Titan’s leg. She panted and tried to pull herself up.  
Although Sarthis could speed up her regeneration, her body still remained weakened for long periods of time. “Shit…”

Erwin noticed so many of his soldiers dying, but he blocked it out. He looked up in time to see the green shuriken cut Eren from Burts grasp. They had him back. Erwin raised his arm and shouted, “Retreat!”  
Before he could react, a Titan bit down on his arm from behind. It lifted him in the air, the limb attached by little more than a tendon to the rest of his body.  
Tsuki jumped off her horse and used her gear to reel herself up to the Titan. Leah raised her bow and aimed for the same one. She fired the arrow that cut off what connected Erwin’s arm, freeing him from the Titan’s mouth. He dropped back to the ground while Tsuki jumped onto the Titan’s neck and cut it out. She flipped and jumped towards Leah who raised her hands and gave her a lift to the next titan where she cut it open as well.  
Jean swung by and caught her in midair and asked, “Should you be fighting? You used so much energy in the last battle!”  
“I’m starting to feel better.” Tsuki assured. “We need to make sure the Commander is okay!”

Demi was struggling to get up with Eren as well as avoiding Titans. She panted, holding him up on her back. She would try to cut him loose, but the rampaging Titans weren’t giving her a chance. She gasped when she saw someone on a horse ride up with a spare one by the reins.  
Levi and Kana pulled their horse to a stop and he ordered, “Here. Get on.”  
A titan came rolling towards them and Demi hurriedly threw Eren up on the horses back before barely dodging the horse. She rushed back over and pulled herself up. They kicked the two horses into high speed and rushed out of the fumbling pit of titans.  
Kana yelled, “We’ve been given the order to retreat already. We break from the Titans and keep going.”  
Demi nodded, contiously glancing over her shoulder to make sure that Eren was still on there.  
Kana did a double take when she saw Mikasa flying through the Titans, back towards the Armored Titan. “What is she doing…?”

Burt was staring at Clay from where he hung from the wire the kept him connected to Reiner. He asked, “Why…? Have you really betrayed us?”  
Clay gritted his teeth. He couldn’t be so back and forth like this. He knew what he had to do, but to him, the only thing that mattered was –   
Mikasa landed on Reiner’s shoulder and held her hand out to him. “Clay! Come on, let’s go. We’ve got Eren back, we can go home!”  
Burt was still glaring at Clay. “Does it not matter to you? Is it because of her? Don’t you remember!? It’s not safe… there’s no future. Remember what you’re fighting for. If you betray us now, there’s no hope for anyway. Stay true. We’ll come back for her.”  
Clay gritted his teeth and reluctantly looked up at Mikasa. “Listen… Mikasa… I have to go with them. For now.”  
“Why!?” Mikasa shouted. “I know you’re not evil! Why are you doing this!? Clay!”  
Clay’s eyes widened when a Titan climbed up Reiner’s back and went to grab Mikasa who was too busy with him to notice. He shot himself up towards her and wrapped his arms around her, tackling her out of the Titan’s way. He summersaulted down the titan’s shoulder and jumped off, linking his gear to a tree and pulling them both away from the Titans.  
He set her limp form down on the branch and whispered, “You’re just going to have to trust me. I can’t explain myself right now.”  
Mikasa grabbed his sleeves, her eyes watering. “Please don’t… don’t leave me. Whatever they’ve said to you, Clay. It’s a lie! Don’t go! Please!!!”  
Clay closed his eyes as tight as he could. He couldn’t stand to see her cry and hated it all the more that he was the one to cause it. “Mikasa… I’m so sorry. When I come back, I’ll explain and you’ll understand. I promise…”  
“You will come back?” Mikasa asked quickly. “You swear to that!?”  
“Yes. I will.” Clay insisted. “Just trust me.” His eyes softened and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a long deep kiss. Mikasa gripped his shirt and kissed him back with every bit as much passion until he jumped off the branch. He swung around and set Mikasa down near her horse and softly ordered, “Get going. Get out of danger, okay?”  
She nodded, but her eyes lingered on him as he flew back towards Reiner and the others. What was really going on? What was he had to do that was so important?

Tsuki and Leah were wrapping up the Commander’s arm just enough that he wouldn’t bleed out on the battle field. Jean, Connie, Armin and several others were keeping the Titan’s back. Once he was back on his feet, they all hopped up on their horses. Leah told him, “We’ve got Eren back, let’s get out of here.”  
Erwin nodded and paused, looking over. Tsuki followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. Ymir was struggling with another Titan on top of her when Christa swung around and cut its neck. “What do we do about her? Is she on our side or theirs?”  
Tsuki gritted her teeth. “I really don’t think she’s on our side. But… Clay seems skeptical as well. But in my heart, I can’t believe he’s against us. So… to just assume Ymir is…”  
“We can’t be wishy-washy. She is, or isn’t.” Erwin growled.  
Jean commented, landing beside them. “I’ve always douted if Ymir was on our side or not.”  
Leah told Erwin, “At the very least, shouldn’t we bring her in for questioning?”  
Erwin nodded. “If possible, we’ll bring her back. But we won’t risk anymore lives than we need to. We have Eren, our primary goal now is escape.”  
All of them rushed over as Christa landed beside a tree and Ymir was getting up. Connie rushed over to her and asked, “What are you doing? We’re heading back.”  
Christa shouted at him, “I’m fine, leave me!” She kept yelling, “Ymir said that she’ll be killed by Reiner and the others if she doesn’t bring me along. So we’re going along with them!”  
“Is that a joke?” Tsuki asked, pulling her horse to a stop beside them. Connie was trying to pull Christa up onto his horse, as Tsuki went on, “Ymir said that? Ymir risked her life to help us back at the tower. Do you really think she’d risk your life to save her own? I don’t know what danger she’s in, but I don’t believe that for one second.”  
Connie agreed, “Yeah, we all know she’s obsessed with you.”  
Jean chopped down a Titan and landed on the back of Tsuki’s horse and added, “But you know, both of you have a better chance of dying if you stay here, right?” Jean paused, hearing a loud noise and looked up. His eyes widened in shock, “We need to move, now!”  
They all saw what he did in that moment. A huge titan was flying through the air, towards them. They were all able to move their horses out of the way just as it landed. To be sure, Jean flew up and decapitated it before it got up. “Son of a bitch… that bastard… is throwing Titans at us!”

Kana looked back in time to see a couple titans flying through the air towards them. She cursed and shouted, “Watch out!”  
Levi and Demi looked up, seeing the titan desending down on them. Levi jerked on the reins, stopping his horse suddenly, but Kana gasped, nearly sliding off but grabbing a tighter hold on him. When Demi turned her horse to a stop, she gasped when Eren, still bound, slid off. The impact of the titan landing beside them caused the ground to crumble and she and the horse were flipped across the ground.  
She got her berrings back together and crawled towards Eren. She started at his binds when she realized he was trembling and staring past her. She looked over her shoulder, seeing a Titan reaching towards them. She gasped and let out a shout as the hand nearly had a hold of them.  
A blur smeared across her vision and stopped the hand in place. Levi had reeled himself in with Kana on his back, using Mizuki as a shield. They stopped the hand and Levi spun, cutting up it’s hand so it withdrew. Levi, over his shoulder, ordered Demi, “Hurry and get your ass in gear! Get Eren out of here!”  
Demi shook herself from her stupor and hurried, cutting the rope that bound Eren. Meanwhile Kana jumped off Levi’s back and ran up the Titan’s arm, Mizuki turning into the long, black, clawed glove from before.

Tsuki looked over, seeing Ymir charging towards her and the rest of the group with Commander Erwin. Tsuki tensed up and gasped, “Dammit, Ymir is coming after us! She’s definitely not on our side!”  
Jean was on his own horse now and ran towards Commander Erwin and drew his sword, ready to defend him against Ymir. But to their surprise, she went after another Titan that was desending on them from the other direction.  
Connie was about to yell something at Jean when Christa suddenly leapt into the air, flying back towards Ymir. When he yelled her name, Christa shouted back, “You’re wrong, Connie. My name is Historia!”  
Christa asked Ymir, “You lied about why you were taking me with you, weren’t you? But why? For what purpose? For me…? Am I being protected again?” Ymir was suddenly cut off by another Titan and Christa kept yelling, “Ymir! Just like you said to me… let’s top living for the sake of other people from now on!! Let’s live for ourselves!! It’s kind of mysterious but…if I’m together with you, then no matter what kind of world it is… I’m not afraid!!”  
Tsuki yelled at Christa, but she was distracted when she saw that Reiner was moving. She yelled back at Erwin, “The armored Titan is heading this way! We need to move out, now!”  
Erwin growled, “Where is Eren!? His safety is most important!”  
Jean was looking around from where he had landed on the tree. “I don’t see them.”  
Tsuki gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. There had to be something she could do. There had to be a way out of this mess. If only she could see…  
Her eyes widened and burned and suddenly she saw color. Around Leah, her friend was dancing in blue and the other titans were dancing in red. What? How could this be? Wasn’t this what Kana described? But wasn’t it Kana’s ability to see the status of titans? Did they share this ability or could all Slayers…?  
She saw it, through the trees, a much smaller form of red. “Eren is back there! He’s cloest to the other Titans!” She also saw two blues around him. “Demi and Kana are with him. He’s safe. We need to go!” She looked up when a blur of red caught her eye. A titan was flying right towards the tree. Right towards… “JEAN!!! MOVE!!!”

Kana went in for the neck on the Titan, but to her surprise it was both fast and had a long reach. She flipped over the hand that went to grab her, but as she fell, the other, sliced up, hand went for her. Levi used his gear and reeled himself in, cutting it’s arm off and swinging on around and cutting out the back of its neck.  
Demi got the binds off of Eren who’s eyes were wide. “So much… for growing up. I haven’t… changed at all.”  
“What are you talking about… ERen?” Demi asked worriedly.  
He glared up at the Titan and snarled, “That was the Titan that killed my mother! And I still couldn’t do anything!”  
Demi’s eyes softened. She wasn’t sure why, but the words struck a chord with her. A gentle voice sang in the back of her head,   
“What an idiot… why send her? She can’t do anything. Why would you bear the weight of such an important mission on such a worthless girl?”  
Demi touched Eren’s hand, oblivious to the three Titan about to desend on them. She whispered, “You’re wrong. You’re so wrong. If you believe in yourself… You can do anything. It just takes the right person to believe in you. You may not realize it… but your words… You believed in me. I don’t remember much of my past… but I remember that no one else believed in me. So I believe in you. I can see it in your eyes… you’ll do great things. Maybe we’re humanity’s weapons… but you’re the ace in the hole. You’re our hope.”  
Eren stared at her with wide eyes. “You… really think so?”  
Demi leaned forward and kissed his lips tenderly. “I know so.”  
Kana landed and turned towards them, her eyes widening when she saw the Titan’s about to grab them. She screamed, “Demi! Eren! LOOK OUT!!!”  
Eren turned suddenly and stood up when Demi tried to cover him with her body. He told her, “If you believe in me… then don’t protect me! I’ll fight on my own!” He shouted towards the nearest Titan. When it’s hand was about to wrap around him, he punched it with all his might, letting out a scream of pure rage.  
Kana and Levi rushed towards them, but they stopped short when the other two titans suddenly dog-piled the middle one. “What the… hell…?”  
Demi stared in awe. “What’s… going on?”  
To their shock, all of the titans turned and suddenly converged on the one titan. Levi hopped up on his horse while helping Kana up and then Demi and Eren got on the other. Demi asked, “Why are all the Titans suddenly eating that one?”  
Levi grumbled, “Who cares. We just need to escape.”

Tsuki’s eyes were wide and her arms were up. The white mist was pouring off her skin and could be seen around the Titan floating in the air. Just barely, before the giant beast came down on Jean, she had stopped time around it, giving him the chance to climb down and out of harms way. He wasted no time rushing to her and catching her before she collapsed to the ground. He gasped, “Tsukiko? Are you alright?”  
She held herself up on him, panting for breath. “Y-yeah… that took every bit of strength I had left.”  
Leah rushed up to her other side and helped her to her horse. Once she was up on, Jean jumped up behind her and held her up. He told her, “Lean on me if you have to…we’re going to have to ride fast.”  
Tsukiko was barely able to hold herself up, but she glanced over and happened to see Ymir pat Christa’s head before running off back towards Reiner and Burt. Tsuki gritted her teeth and mumbled, “Dammit…just whose side are they on…?”  
Jean held her close as they ran as fast as they could from the Titans. “Don’t stress out over it now. We’ll demand answers later.”


	61. Motives

“Hurry, the wounded first!”  
“This can’t be? This can’t be it!”  
“Where did the stationary guard go?”  
“Really? Majority of them were lost?”  
A woman was helping Christa and Connie up. She gasped when Christa collapsed against her and said, “This one is in pretty bad shape, too.” She was trying to push her to drink some water. “Here, drink this. There’s no titans here.”  
Kana had drowned out the noises around her. She could hear what everyone was saying, but she couldn’t comprehend what their words meant. Everything was meaningless to her right now. Her crimson gaze was focused on the tips of her fingers. Mizuki stood in front of her, staring up at her. She tipped her head, causing her black hair to fall. She asked, “What’s wrong? We did our job.”  
“It’s nothing.” Kana answered. But it wasn’t nothing. She noticed that where her arm reformed was miscoloered compared to the rest of her skin. It almost looked as though her arm was once resewn to replace one that she’d lost.  
Mizuki frowned. “I did what I could. I ran out of energy though. You’ll have to deal with that.”  
“What do you mean, you ran out of energy?” Kana demanded.  
Mizuki jumped up on her shoulder and gripped her red hair. “It takes time to heal injuries but you forced me to throw something together really fast. You were pretty impatient.”  
“Sorry.” Kana stated.  
“It’ll slowly recolor.” Mizuki explained. “Give it time.”  
Kana jumped and gasped when she was touched on the shoulder. She spun, seeing Levi with a shocked expression. He hesitated, but then gently whispered, “Are you alright, Kana?”  
She nodded and rubbed her head. “Yeah. I’m just a little on edge right now.”  
He hesitated, frowning. “I know. We all are. Erwin wants to speak with all of us. Once we do, then we can all finally go rest.” He started to turn away, but Kana was aware of his gaze lingering on her arm. Kana stared at him before noticing his hand was out. With a blush, Kana rested her hand in his and followed him across the wall.

Finally, that night, everyone was able to return home. Tsukiko had spent the rest of the day with Jean and stayed with him at his house while Armin and Leah went on their usual midnight stroll before finally making their way back. Mikasa spent the evening gazing up at the stars, wondering where Clay was and if he was safe. Meanwhile…  
Kana opened the door to an empty house. She had been given another temporary home until Wall Rose was determined clear. It wasn’t the emptiness of the house that bothered her. It was the quietness. The fact that there wasn’t three kids running at her and screaming at her. It was like pouring salt in an open wound.  
All the fear and agony she’d pushed aside suddenly came bubbling up to the suface. She stood in the doorway and felt like a stranger to her own life. This wasn’t her life. She must have been the wrong actor in the wrong movie because this wasn’t –   
She stiffened when she felt a hand on the middle of her back. Levi told her, as though reading her thoughts, “We’ll get them back. We’ll set up a squad to retrieve them soon.”  
Kana started forward on trembling legs only to collapse in the walkway of the new house. Levi dropped down next to her and started to lift her up but stopped when he noticed she was shaking. He pressed his forehead to her back. He felt so helpless when she was like this, and most of all he blamed himself. If he would have kept his promise then she wouldn’t be going through this pain right now. “Kana… I’m sorry…”  
“I haven’t… convinced myself…” Kana mumbled through the tears. “That they’re dead… but every now and then I realize that the chances of them making it on their own are so slim… so it blindsides me every time. It’s like relearning that they’re gone… that I’ve failed as a big sister.”  
He grabbed her and pulled her around suddenly, his eyes wide and desperate. Desperate to make her stop blaming herself; desperate to take away her pain; desperate to forget that it had happened at all. “You didn’t fail! This wasn’t your failure! I’m the one that couldn’t do my job. I’m the one that failed to prevent you from being thrown in that jail cell that night. I’m the one who failed to go to them that night. I’m the one who let them down.”  
Kana coughed on her own tears and slid her arms around his neck, burying her face under his jaw. “Levi… that’s not your job… how could you fail something you weren’t required to do?” She sighed and the defeat rang strongly in her voice. She started to put on a fake smile like usual and get up, but his arms came around her and held her against him suddenly.  
He whispered, “And it’s not your job to be strong for everyone else. You don’t have to always pretend like you’re okay when you’re not. You don’t have to give your life on the off-hand chance someone might not lose theirs. It’s been three years since I met you in that alley and I knew what kind of person you were even before that. You were just like me… a criminal with no purpose… living for anything you could get… being strong for those that were weak…”  
“Y-you were…” Kana gasped and pulled her head back. “Were you seriously…?”  
Levi sighed and gave her a warm smile. “Yes. Just like you, I was a criminal. I was promised an erased history…” Pain flittered across his eyes for a moment and his words drifted. “I’m here now, aren’t I? And so are you.” His grip on her tightened. “I won’t let you die. I can’t lose you, too, Kana.”  
With an innocent smile, she told him, “Well… I’m not planning on going anywhere…”  
Levi sighed and pressed his lips to her forehead. “No, you need to go to bed. You’ve been up way too long.”  
“So have you.” Kana scolded back. “I’ll go… if you come with me.”  
His eyes widened and she thought he’d argue, but his gaze softened and his hand slid to the back of her hair. Slowly he pulled her in and kissed her gently, but his lips lingered upon hers as he whispered, “Of course I will.”

Kana laughed as she leaned against the counter, Levi pressing against her. He glared at her and scolded, “If you don’t stop playing around, this filthy place will never get cleaned.”  
She giggled and pulled the white clothe from over his mouth down around his neck. She teased, “This is why you really came over to my place to help the kids every night, right? You were obsessed with cleaning every inch of it for no reason.”  
“There is reason.” Levi glared at her. “The place was a mess.”  
“And they’re kids.” Kana retorted. “The second you clean it up, they’re determined to mess it back up. It was just giving you something to do, right?” A devious look came to her eyes and she purred, “So… as long as this place is a mess, you’ll stay here, right?”  
Levi went quiet, not liking the look in her eyes. She leaned forward, her lips against his jaw. “Stop glaring at me like that.” She playfully ordered. “Crack a smile once and a while…” She kept distracting him by leaving soft little kisses along his jaw. She could feel his body stiffen against hers while her hand wandered to the jar of sugar.  
The poor guy had spent the whole morning straightening up the kitchen and in just one swift move she could…  
Levi pulled back immediately when he heard the sound of spilling grains. He looked over, seeing the sugar pouring across the counter and some spilling onto the floor. He sighed and pulled the cloth back up. He grabbed a towel and started cleaning it up. “What a waste. Do you really think I need and excuse to stay here? I don’t stay here just to clean, you know?”  
Kana made it as hard as she could on him, playfully scattering the sugar back across the counter when he tried to clean it back up. She laughed each time he seemed to get more and more frustrated. But it wasn’t an outward frustration, more of a playful one; almost as though he enjoyed her methods of passing the time. She casually asked, “Then why do you stay?”  
He stopped wiping up the sugar and looked at her, his expression almost impossible to read around the white cloth covering the bottom of his face and holding his hair back. Then he answered plainly, “Cause you’re here.”  
Her cheeks darkened to red. She couldn’t find any response so she just shuffled away and let him clean. She lingered in the kitchen, not wanting to be away from him. Each time he made a loop around, she snuck a kiss on his cheek and felt his skin warm up each time.  
After the fourth time, he started to take a hold of her when there was a knock at her front door. She grumbled in annoyance, while Levi shuffled out of sight. Although they were more expressive about their relationship in private, there was no way they could make their situation public. Not with everyone so on edge about the Titans and fighting them.  
Kana opened the door and was ready to be short with whoever it was when she straightened up and dipped her head in respect. “Hanji-san.”  
Hanji waved playfully and giggled. “Erwin wants to see you. I’m not sure why but he told you to fetch Levi as well. Said you would know where he was at since he’s not home.”  
Kana blushed a bit and nodded as she took off. She jumped when the door shut and an arm slid around her waist from behind. Levi rested his forehead against the back of her head and sighed, “We should get going then. The rest of this mess can wait.”

Kana had on her black shorts and black tank top with red gloves. She felt a chill in the air as she walked but casually asked Levi, “I haven’t seen Demi or most of the others this week.”  
Levi looked away and answered, “They’ve been taken to hiding spot. We thought, with the chance of their being spies, its best to keep him away from the larger group of people. Right now… only your slayer friends and his closest companions are with him.”  
“Oh, I see…” Kana commented, curious about what the real reason behind this was.


	62. Devestation

Kana stared in shock. She and Levi had walked into a hospital room where Pixis and Erwin, still on the hospital bed, were. She gasped, “What do you mean Wall Rose has been declared safe?”  
Pixis heaved a huge sigh. He was looking older then he ever had been. This was certainly weighing heavily on him, but he explained, “We had no choice but to declare Wall Rose safe within a week. We’ve already let refugees return to the surface. And I’m thankful to say that, amidst the chaos, only one incident required military intervention. When we tried to evict the illegal residents squatting in the underground city, there was a conflict with the stationary guard in one area. There were no deaths but it had a huge impact within the wall. It was like hell had been unleashed for a moment. After seeing it for ourselves, it is sure that  
One week after Wall Rose falls, people will begin to destroy one another.”  
Levi leaned back in his chair. “Sorry Erwin. You’ve finally recovered enough to start barking orders again, but news like this would make you want to take to bed again, hm?”  
Erwin had been silent for a while, but he commented, “No. I’ve had enough sleep.”  
Levi’s gaze lingered on his arm. “It’s too bad about your arm, though.”  
“How many hundreds of people do you think I’ve fed to the Titans? One arm is hardly enough to make up for that. I’ll pay off my debts in hell one day.” Erwin stated, but his gaze, as well, was heavy. Just what was it weighing this room down? Secrets? Lies? What was it? Kana’s hands were clenching and unclenching. She was trying to keep up with the conversation. Erwin had requested her presence here for a reason. But her mind was reeling backwards. If wall rose was safe, she could go find her siblings. She needed to.  
Every second was being wasted here.  
Pixis started laughing and it brought her back to reality. “Well said, Erwin.” He stated, “Will you let me join you in hell when that time comes?”  
Levi glared at him. “What are you talking about old man? Have you had enough too? It seems you haven’t had enough to drink.”  
Pixis recoiled and grumbled, “Indeed, I would enjoy a drink right now, but the alcohol has been confiscated. Someone is determined to keep an eye on me until the bitter end.” He shot a look at the woman who was leaning against the wall.  
Erwin chuckled, “Seems you have quite the exceptional subordinate.”  
There was a knock from behind Kana. Levi looked over and commented, “Come in, Hanji.”  
Kana was a bit surprised to see Hanji walk in with Connie. Connie looked every bit as surprised to see her there as well. His gaze lingered on her. When Kana turned back, stepping out of the way, she saw that Erwin was staring at her as well. She couldn’t miss it. There was something he was hiding. She felt a tremor of fear creep down her spine like a spider.  
Suddenly, she didn’t feel comfortable here.  
Hanji and Connie saluted and Hanji explained, “I’m here for the investigation report on the incident. This here is Connie Springer of the 104th squad. His home is the Ragako village of interest. He joined my my investigave squad to do his knowledge surrounding the incident.”  
“Good work, Connie. You’ve worked hard.” Levi complimented.  
Connie’s gaze finally moved from Kana, to Levi, to the ground. He simply mumbled, “Yes…” Kana looked away as well. She felt bad for him. Three of his fellow squadmates all turned into Titans around him. She was never very close with the rest of the 104th squad. She had always been closer with Tsukiko, Leah, and Clay. They were always more apart from the others.  
Hanji rubbed the back of her neck, “Let me explain. Regarding the source of the Titans. Indeed we have gathered much evidence supporting that theory…It seems that all the residences in the village were destroyed by blasts from within. But despite such obvious evidence of destruction, we didn’t find a single trace of blood. And the key is, even now, we haven’t found a single resident from that village. Furthermore, the total number of titans that appeared and were surpressed within the wall…is exactly equal to the number of residents of Ragako village.”  
The room went quiet. The implication was plain as day.  
But Hanji continued anyway, “This it is a high likelihood that the true form of the titans that appeared this time are residents of Ragako village.”  
After another long stretch of silence, Erwin repeated, “So the true form of Titans are… Humans…”  
Hanji hesitated, “At present, we don’t have enough evidence to prove that this is true of all titans. However if this supposition is correct, then perhaps that explains why their weak spot is the back of their necks. And why, despite the diffrences in sizes, the weak spot is always the same for all Titans. It’s relative to the brain and spinal cord of humans. If this portion is cut, then regeneration and function would be lost.”  
Levi asked, “But previously when you captured titans alive and cut open the backs of their necks, you never found anything like that, did you?”  
Hanji looked down, “Indeed I didn’t. Nothing looked like it had been transformed from human organs.” She went on, “But within that space, there were some structures, they were melded with the Titans bodies so it’s not entirely clear…”  
“I don’t get what you’re saying, you shitty four-eyes.” Levi snapped.  
Kana shot him a look as Hanji apologized, but she saw his crestfallen expression and he lowered his head. Slowly, he murmured, “So all this flesh I’ve been slicing is actually human flesh…? Up till now I’ve just been flying around killing people, that right?”  
Hanji looked down, “I said there was no absolute proof, you know…”  
“If this is truly the case, then how can we tell the difference between regular titans and titans like Eren? Does it depend on whether their bodies fully melded?” Pixis asked.  
Kana was watching Levi as they rambled. He looked devastated about this information. More than anything she wanted reach out to him and do something, but she couldn’t. She had to just stand there and watch.  
Levi sat up and looked at Erwin. “Hey… Erwin. Erwin…”  
When he lifted his head, the Commander was smiling the broadest smile she’d ever seen. Suddenly, Kana felt sick to her stomach. She’d only seen a twisted smile like that once before. Images danced before her gaze of a woman in the middle of a fallen village. It burned around her but she just laughed. Corpses at her feet, she laughed. Smoke filling the air, she laughed. She –   
“What are you smiling about?” Levi demanded.  
“Ah… nothing.” Erwin stated.  
Levi grumbled, “You’re a really creepy guy.”  
“I’ve been told that since I was little.” He responded.  
Levi asked, “Is that the real reason you joined the Survey Corps?”   
Erwin just laughed, “Give me a break Levi, don’t you feel any sympathy towards me since I lost my arm?”  
Levi sighed, “Perhaps.”  
“Regardless. Where are Eren and Christa being held right now?” Erwin asked, pointed towards Hanji.  
Kana was paying attention now. She noticed that Erwin’s question was blown off and one by one they all avoided not only answering the question, but changing the subject completely. Was she no longer the only who was suspicious about Erwin?  
The Commander asked the question a couple more times, but again, it was completely blown off. Then it was her turn to ask what had been bugging her this entire time. “Commander Erwin.”  
She stiffened when all of them looked at her. She hesitantly continued, “If Wall Rose has been deemed safe, then I want some time to find my family.”  
There was that look again. That dark brooding look. Why was it suddenly being directed at her? She waited for several minutes before Erwin finally sighed. The look disappeared and was replaced with a mask of sympathy. “That won’t be necessary. They were found among the dead.”  
Looks of horror spread around the room but more than anything it felt like a punch to her gut. She had been telling herself not to get her hopes up, but with the news of Wall Rose being declared safe, she couldn’t help the rush of hope that swarmed through her. Her voice cracked, “A-Are you sure?”  
She couldn’t believe it.  
Erwin calmly answered, “Yes. They were the same three you brought with you. They’re dead.”  
Each time he said it, it felt like a brick of ice. Her blood ran totally cold. Even more so when he continued, “Which means the deal is off. You are no longer obligated to the Survey Corps. Your service isn’t needed here. You can remain in the interior, far away from the Titans. Turn your uniform into one of the Captains at the Headquarters.”  
Kana couldn’t even find the strength to breathe. In one blow, everything she had found to live for had slipped right through her fingers. Was he giving her an option? Or was this his way of kicking her out. What had she done? Why was this happening to her? It hit her harder than ever. The loss of her siblings was a numbing blow until now. Now when there was no longer any avoidance. It was the real deal. Now the pain was so intense that she was feeling dizzy. The rush of tears poured down her face and she started to collapse but caught herself.  
She only hesitated for one moment.  
No. There wasn’t anything left for her here. She turned and ran right out the door.  
Levi jumped up, “Kana!” He started to run after her when Erwin ordered him to stay put. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Everything inside of him told him to run after her, but he couldn’t disobey Erwin. He just couldn’t.  
Connie, shocked, asked, “So she… was only in the Survey Corps because you guys had agreed to protect her family?”  
“Yes.” Erwin stated without emotion. “No sense of justice or desire to do right including. She was doing it for her own selfish reasons.”  
Levi wanted to punch the wall, scream, do something. What was going on with him? What was his purpose in this? Yes the commander had to be callous to people’s pleas and desperations, but he didn’t have to be cold-hearted. Not in this circumstance.  
Hanji told Erwin. “It doesn’t seem that way when she fights. And even if it was… she’s one of our strongest soldiers. Why would you…?”  
“I don’t trust her.” Erwin stated.  
“What!?” Levi turned on him, unable to surpress his own rage. It had been a long time since he was this furious with his commander. “Because of that? After all this time you still don’t – “  
“Have you ever paid attention to our military police?” Erwin asked.  
All of them went quiet with confusion. But Pixis’s eyes were knowing. Erwin glanced at him and gave him a look that told him to speak up. Pixis started, “I was patrolling when I noticed a band of new kids in the military police. Most of these new ones were wearing some kind of hair piece or hat so I didn’t notice anything at first. But I noticed one with red hair. Even when she turned towards me. It was Kana. Undoubtedly. She was in military police uniform. Why? And how? This was supposedly while you were all out on your mission.”  
“She was there! What you saw was wrong! You – “  
“How could she be in two places?” Erwin demanded. “Name one other person with red hair. It was her, Levi. Don’t let your personal emotions cloud your judgement.”  
Hanji’s eyes widened suddenly with understanding. “You and Kana are -?”  
Erwin, adamantly, continued, “We know so little about these Slayers and their powers. She claims to know about them. Why doesn’t she know more? Why hasn’t she told us more if she does? Why do they protect humans? Why don’t the others know anything about what they are? Where did they come from? What if they’re spies? We have too many questions and you’re willing to just blindly trust them.”  
Levi started to argue further but Erwin cut him off again. “If they were spies, you’d be playing right into their hands. Did you ever notice something in Kana’s story doesn’t add up?”  
“What’s that?” Levi asked, but his voice was guarded. He’d had enough of this conversation.  
“She said she didn’t know who Mizuki was at court, right? But obviously, she’d already known her because she’d used her as a weapon before that. In Trost. If what she tells us is the truth, then she’d been using Mizuki that whole time. That’s why we could see those red lines. That and if she knows about her Slayer history, then why did it take her so long to use her weapon? There are several holes in her story. Who told her what she knows about being a Slayer? Mizuki? Her parents that she claimed she had no history with? Her aunt and uncle? The ones that died and so obviously weren’t Slayers? Have you thought about any of this Levi? Or are you just going to blindly follow these girls until we all wind up dead?”  
Levi was glaring at the ground. He had nothing to say. How could he be rational with someone who, in the aftershock of his injury was being so irrational? Or… was it him being irrational. His eyes narrowed. No. He wasn’t. He lifted his head and spoke slowly, trying to hold back his rage. “Commander Erwin. If they’re spies… why do they put their own lives on the line to protect us?”  
“Where’s the danger for them? They can’t die, according to what we’ve been told. So what have they got to lose?”  
“They can die.” Levi argued. “If their weapons are destroyed then they will!”  
Erwin glared at him. “And when Kana lost her weapon, what suddenly became her main priority above all else? Did you see her jumping into the fray anymore? No. She was protecting her own life.”  
“She lost her arm!”  
“I put her on the front lines so she would fight!”  
“I stopped her! I wouldn’t let her!”  
The shouting came to a dead silence. Everyone in the room was staring at Erwin, waiting to see what his next move would be. He leaned back and calmly whispered, “I think you need to clear your head Levi. You mentioned earlier that you reformed your squad? Focus on that for a few days. It should be easier since Kana will not be there to distract you.”  
Levi gritted his teeth and stormed out of the room, leaving them behind.   
Hanji stared at the door that had slammed shut before speaking, cautiously, to Erwin. “Sir. I understand where you’re coming from. She is suspicious but… the truth is… she’s our greatest weapon. You told us that weapons are meant to be used.”  
“Yes. And now that her personal attachments are broken, I can know for sure what drives her to fight.” Erwin explained. “If she’s lost everything, will she fend for herself or will she truly devote herself to humanity?”  
Hanji looked down. “This is a pretty sick and twisted test… but okay.” She walked out with Connie. On the way out, she told the small boy, “What you learned in there, keep quiet, alright? Who knows what the population will do if we throw more gasoline on the fire? They’re already up in arms saying we’re wasting their money. If this gets out, the start speculating that there’s corruption in the military, too.”  
“I got it. I won’t say anything.” Connie agreed. “It’s… surprising though.”  
“I agree…”

Tsukiko stretched her arms out and leaned back. As soon as she did, Eren shouted at her, “What are you doing!?”  
Tsukiko jumped and sat back up. She squealed, “Wh-what? What did I do?”  
“Levi-heichou and the others will be back any time now! We have to clean this place up!”  
Jean glared at him and ordered, “Don’t yell at her. It’s not her fault you have such problems. We’re cleaning.”  
“Y-you don’t understand how Heichou is. If it’s not spotless he’ll kill us!” Eren trembled as though remembering some terrible nightmare.  
Jean rolled his eyes. “Keep your weird personal problems to yourself.” He ordered, glancing at Leah and Armin, seeing that they were making food. He questioned, “So how many of us were selected for the new Levi squad?”  
“Who knows?” Demi stated. “My guess would be us and Kana.”  
Eren shouted at everyone and handed them all cleaning supplies. “Hurry up! If he gets back before this place is spotless, we’re all dead!”  
They all grumbled and went back to their duties.  
Several hours later, Leah sang, opening the door. “Guess who’s back!” She laughed and waved her arm up when Levi followed her into the little cabin.  
Everyone welcomed them back except for Eren who stood, trembling where he was, as though waiting for punishment. Levi glanced around but didn’t say anything.  
Tsuki giggled and walked up. “We all pitched in and made dinner. Table is set and everything. Oh – where’s Kana?”  
A pained look flitted across Levi’s face. After a long pause, he stated, “Kana won’t be joining us.   
She’s no longer a part of the Survey Corps.”


	63. Remember When...

Demi threw her fist forward, but Tsukiko easily dodged to the side. When she ducked under Demi’s arm, she shot forward, her arms locked around Demi’s body and flipped her over onto her back. As soon as Demi’s shoulders hit the ground, she kicked up, kneeing Tsuki right in the gut.  
Tsuki quickly rolled away from her opponent, but both of them glared at each other. Within minutes, they were at each others throats again.   
Leah and the others were sitting around, watching the two go at it. Eren was watching Demi’s moves with a close eye, but his mind was elsewhere. “Why would Erwin do that?”  
Leah shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe Kana didn’t want to stay if she didn’t have to anyway…”  
Jean looked at the girls, wincing when Demi threw Tsuki on her back but she got a knee up around her head and dragged the other girl down as well. “Oh well. We have our own training to focus on now.”

Tsukiko stared at her reflection in the water of the sink. It had been a quiet day. After the Captain had shared the news of Kana’s resignation from the Survey Corps, no one had much to say for now. She was doing dishes while Leah and Demi set up for dinner. The boys were outside, now going through their own training for the day. It still shook her up a little bit that her best friend would just all of a sudden quit like that.  
Demi dropped a stack of plates beside her and it scared her enough that she was shaken from her own daze. Tsuki looked at her questioningly and was answer by Demi’s nonchalant, “Are you even paying any attention? Jeez, you’re like a walking zombie.”  
“I am not a walking zombie.” Tsukiko snapped at her. Then she frowned. Now that she thought about it, Demi had seriously kicked her ass during training that morning. “Maybe I am a little…”  
“A little?” Demi teased. She leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her chin on her palms. “You’re thinking about Kana, too huh?”  
Tsukiko looked at her curiously. Demi sighed and explained, “I don’t care what anyone has to say. Kana wasn’t just in it to protect her family. She was giving it her all on the battlefield every time we fought. I didn’t see her much and I’m not as close to her as you guys, but I could sense her need to protect her friends. Why would she just bail on us? Especially now when you and Leah need training with your weapons. It’s important. It’s not something she’d just forget about needing to do.”  
“Maybe the Captain and Commander know something that we don’t. Either way, we can’t change it.” TSukiko told her. “We can’t change her mind.”  
“Wouldn’t you like to talk to her?” Demi challenged.  
“Kinda…” Tsuki agreed. Demi started to say something else when they looked up. The boys were walking into the kitchen, most of them with bruises on their faces and bodies. They’d been practicing as hard as the girls had been that morning. But unlike the girls, they were all laughing and enjoying the day.  
Demi made a smart comment at them but they were all quickly quieted by a furious Levi who scolded all of them for dirtying the cabin.

It was just about time to start dishing food out to the table when Tsukiko was stopped by Jean. He had a bruise just near his lip, but he had that same calm, cool smile that he usually had. Her heart was thundering in her chest just looking at him. He reached an arm around her, going for the pot in her hand. But she wasn’t paying attention to what he wanted from her. She was thinking about his gentle fingers on her arm. She was thinking about how close he was, how many times he breathed. She straightened up when he took the pot from her and asked, “Can I help?”  
“If you want.” Tsuki was blushing and her face only heated up more when Jean brushed his lips on her forehead. She let out a little squeak and shifted on her heels. She glanced over where Levi and Eren were talking at the table, but Levi was glaring at the two of them. For a moment, she felt like if looks could kill, she’d be dead already.  
Was he mad at her?  
Jean hissed when Leah and Demi started bickering at each other over the rolls that Tsuki had already made. Demi had snatched one from Leah’s hand and was holding it away from her while the little lavender haired girl tried to get it back. Demi punched her hand out, knocking the giant pot out of Jean’s hands and knocking it all over the floor.  
The two girls stared at the spilled soup in awe.  
Tsukiko gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists and screamed, “You stupid irresposible jerks! I worked all freaking day on that stew! Now it’s all over the floor!”  
Eren was chuckling and cooed, “Aw, calm down, tsukiko, they didn’t’ mean it. Can’t we whip something else up?”  
“You make it yourself!” Tsukiko screamed. “I worked my ass off all day!”  
Jean chuckled. “She’s so cute when she’s mad.”  
Tsuki wanted to keep being angry, but she couldn’t stay mad after a comment like that. She glared at Jean and ordered, “Shut up… clean the pot out, I’ll fix something else real fast.”

After a while, Leah commented, “Guys…” She set her roll down in the fresh bowl of the new stew that Tsuki put together. “This feels wrong…”  
Demi looked at her questioningly. Tsukiko agreed, “Now, both Clay and Kana are gone. We’re missing a whole chunk of our team…”  
Armin looked at them sadly and noticed that Mikasa stared down at her hands like they were foreign objects to her. He whispered, “It’s not that they’re gone. They’re still with us. Our team is still one big team, we’re just… going after different things right now.”  
Tsuki shook her head. “That’s not what it feels like.” She stated. “Kana and I were together since the first day of training. By the end of the first day, Leah and Clay had joined the team. We’ve been together since.  
Demi shifted the fork around in her hand. She felt like an outcast sitting at the table now. She wasn’t a part of this team. She fooled herself into believing Eren’s words – that she was needed here. But these people had a bond that she didn’t share. They cared about each other. She didn’t matter to them.  
Suddenly, Demi stood up. She dismissed herself from the table and took her plate to the sink before going upstairs. Eren watched her, sadness and worry in his gaze.   
Jean asked, “She okay?”  
“I’m not sure.” Leah whispered. “Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what she’s thinking.”  
“She looked mad.” Armin commented.  
“Maybe someone should – “ Tsuki started, but watched Eren already getting up. He followed suit, putting his plate away and then wondering up the stairs, after Demi.

Eren slowly walked through the open door, asking, “Demi?”  
“What do you want?” She snapped.  
Eren smiled a bit as he shut the door behind him. Where most people probably saw an angry girl with an attitude problem, all he could see was a girl trying desperately to hold herself together. She was laying on the bed, her face buried in the pillow. Eren dropped down on the edge of the bed and softly touched her back. Being as careful as he could be, he rubbed between her shoulder blades and whispered, “You can talk to me about whatever is on yoru mind.”  
Demi turned her head just enough to glare up at him over her shoulder. “I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Then can I just stay in here with you for a while?” Eren asked, wishing he could break through her shell.  
“Yes… I don’t want to be alone.” Demi whispered. He smiled at her. There was a start. He leaned his hand on the other side of her so his body was somewhat hovering over hers.  
“So what upset you?” He tried again.  
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Demi snapped.  
“You really don’t?” Eren tried.  
“No!” She sniffled but then sighed, her face still in the pillow. “No, I do want to talk. I just… all of you have been together so much longer. I feel like I just walked into a place I don’t belong.” She rolled over, gasping a bit when she realized how close his body was. She lay down flat, not wanting to invade any more personal space than what she had already.  
“Why do you feel like you don’t belong?” Eren asked, frowning. That was the last thing he wanted. He wanted her to feel welcome here. He wanted her to know just how important she was.  
“All of you have been friends for so long and I just kind of stumbled in the last week.” Demi whispered. “Not to mention I don’t even know anything about myself.”  
“Huh?” Eren’s eyes widened.  
Demi gritted her teeth and her voice cracked as she said, “I don’t have any memories. I just woke up one day in that castle. All I knew was that I wasn’t supposed to leave. That’s where I was supposed to stay. But then I saw you guys and I wanted to leave. I wanted to go with you…”  
Eren carefully touched her face and whispered, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have your own memories. It doesn’t matter if you just joined us. You’re a part of the team. You belong with us. Okay?”  
Demi leaned her face to his hand. She felt like his touch grounded her. Her heart was facing and the warmth of his skin made her feel… human almost. “Thank you, Eren.”

Late that night, they were all sitting around the table, nothing but the sound of the chimney fire crackling. Tsukiko sipped at her water, seeing that Leah was fiddling with a lose string on her shirt.  
The silence was getting to be too much for her. Someone needed to say something. Please. Anyone. She was sick of the silence.  
“Do you remember that prank we played on Clay that first time he was late to training?” Leah asked.  
Tsukiko giggled and stated, “That’s what he gets for not setting his alarm.”  
“What happened?” Jean questioned.  
“Clay was late for training once. Shardis made us go wake him up so we booby-trapped his whole dorm. It took him like fifteen minutes to get out of his room.” Leah laughed.  
Tsuki started to laugh more. “What about that one time…”


	64. Soldiers (Tsukiko)

Tsukiko sat in front of the chimney. The fire was burning bright. This late in the evening, she should just go to bed, but she couldn’t free her wandering mind. Everyone else had taken to their beds.  
Except Jean.  
Tsuki looked back at him, asleep on the couch next to the long table where they had all dined. He twitched in his sleep, but he looked less stressed than he did when he was awake. She admired him. Despite being just as scared as everyone else, he still fought with all his might. He masked his fear with determination.  
He was a strong leader.  
That was much different then what she thought when she first met him. A giggle left her lips as she remembered their first few encounters. The… not so smooth going friendship that had spawned between the two of them.  
Tsukiko was nervous.  
She felt sweat slick the back of her neck and her heart was racing in her chest. There were so many people. After having spent most of her life with just two friends, she wasn’t used to being surrounded by so many people. Though, she felt a little lonely now. Her two friends had chosen a different path than her. They were not interested in joining the military. They had gone to find merchant jobs in the inner walls. But after seeing so many people killed, Tsuki wanted to do anything she could to prevent anyone else from getting killed.  
She paused, seeing a group of people sitting around outside the barraks, waiting to get their identification checked and given their uniforms.  
Taking a deep breath, she put on her brightest smile and asked, “Hi, I’m Tsukiko, who are you guys?”  
The biggest one of them, a burly guy with short blonde-white hair looked up at her. His expression was gruff, but his blue eyes sparkled, “Well hi there.” He told her back. “I’m Reiner, nice to meet you.”  
For a moment, she felt a little caught off guard. This man looked as strong as a horse, but his eyes were as tender and compassionate as a mothers. If she was going to have someone on her squad, she’d want someone like him. He looked like the kind of guy who would lay down his life for his friends.  
She must have been staring because he raised his hand and motioned to his friend. “This is Burtholt. We came from the same village back on the east side of Wall Maria.”  
Tsuki frowned. She’d heard rumors about the villages in the east from the migrants. She told him, “I’m sorry. I heard that area was hit hard. You guys didn’t have any warning, much like Zhiganshina.”  
Reiner’s gaze fell and the saddest look came to his eyes. He whispered, “Yeah, we watched a lot of our friends perish. We were two of very few who made it.”  
Burt explained to her, “It’s in the past. We’re here now in hopes of being able to go on a mission to return to our village.”  
Tsuki frowned. “There’s most likely nothing left. When I left my village, there wasn’t anything else. Buildings were all crushes, everyone all dead…”  
Burt and Reiner frowned. “That must have been devastating.”  
Before Tsuki could say anything else, another of the group chirped, “You actually want to go beyond the walls? Even after seeing what they’ve done?”  
She looked at this new boy. He had hair that was two different colors as well as a long scowl on his face. He looked confident to the point of being arrogant. Her first opinion was that he was attractive, but as soon as he started talking again, she wanted to put a foot in his mouth.  
“Anyone who wants to go beyond the walls should have their head examined. They’re clearly not in the right mind.”  
Reiner glared up at the newcomer and snapped, “Jean, leave her alone. Some of us want to be in the Survey Corps for a purpose. Not everyone is putting all their effort into getting a cushy life.”  
“We don’t need the Survey Corps.” Jean stated. “There’s no reason for any of us to go outside of the walls. I think the Survey Corps should be disbanded. We’re losing lives over nothing.”  
Tsukiko felt her hand clench in reaction to his words. She snarled at him. “What do you mean we don’t need them!? Do you have no hope of ever going back outside? You’re happy being cooped up in these little walls? You’re not the least bit interested in what the world has to offer the rest of us?”  
“No. I’m not.” Jean said plainly.  
She growled and stepped closer to him. “Some of us do, so I would appreciate you not just bad mouthing those of us that think differently.”  
“I’m free to give whatever opinion I want.” Jean snapped back.  
The two of them glared at each other for the longest time. She finally whipped around and stormed away. Reiner and Burt trotted after her but he stood there, glaring at the girl.  
At first glance, he’d thought she was beautiful. The blue and green in her hair reminded him of the sky, or a warm, open grassy field. Something calming and secure. But beauty didn’t make up for the audacity to want to commit suicide for the Survey Corps.  
He jumped a bit when his friend Marco walked up beside him. His freckled friend asked, “Did you make a new friend?”  
Jean glared at him and pointed in Tsuki’s general direction. “Did that confrontation look like it was friendly?”  
Marco’s brows furrowed and he demanded, “Jean, you didn’t pick a fight with a girl did you?”  
“Of course I didn’t! She picked one with me.”  
His friend sighed and commented, “I know your feelings towards the Survey Corps. But you can’t… go around and talk to people about them. Especially those that really want to join the Survey Corps.”  
“They’re useless!”  
“Maybe we think that way, but to some people, they’re hope.” Marco calmly told him.  
“Hope? Who needs hope?” Jean snapped.

Very late that evening, Tsukiko was walking with Reiner and Burt back to the barracks. The boys cabins were to the right and the girls were on the left. She stopped in front of the boys barracks and joked with them for a few more minutes before waving them off.  
She started to head back to the girls side when there was a dark snickering coming from one of the guys leaning against the wall. She looked over to see Jean standing there, glaring at her.  
Tsukiko bit the inside of her cheek and snapped, “What? Have you come to harass me more? What’s your problem?”  
Jean glared right back. “I have not come to harass you. I hate to break it to you but I don’t live my life trying to make yours terrible. I have my own concerns. I have to get into the top ten of our crew in order to join the military brigade.”  
“Good for you.” Tsuki growled darkly. “Can I go to bed, now?”  
“I think you should rethink joining the Survey Corps. You seem to enjoy laughing and cuddling up to Reiner.” He commented bitterly.  
Her eyes widened and she whirled on him. “Don’t you dare! You have some nerve to even talk to me about what I want to do! Why don’t you mind your own damn business!” She shouted at him as she stormed across the lot to the girls barracks.  
He hesitated as she drew closer, noticing that just off to the side of the building, Shardis and Levi were talking. That was weird to see any Survey Corps members here. She pulled out a slip of paper that had her bunk number on it and walked inside.  
She paused when she saw someone asleep on the bottom bunk that she hadn’t seen the night before. It was a tiny form and all she could see was a bob of wild red hair.  
Ignoring her own nagging curiosity, she climbed on up into bed and fell asleep quickly.

Tsukiko walked over to the couch, leaning down and kissing his forehead softly. She reached up, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and tossing it over him. She started to go back to the chimney when his hand reached out, catching her arm. Looking back, her eyes widened to see that his own warm gaze was on her. The way he looked at her caressed her in ways she thought too inappropriate for this cramped cabin.  
Tsuki smiled and whispered, “I thought you were asleep?”  
Jean just softly asked, “Are you ready for bed yet?”  
Part of her wanted to go to bed. She knew she needed to rest so that she and the others could train hard in the morning. But the other half of her knew that even if she lay down right that moment, she wouldn’t fall asleep for several hours. Despite being worn out and exhausted, she had too much on her mind.  
Jean sat up, seeing the mix of emotion in her gaze. He asked, “Tsukiko? What’s wrong?”  
She shook her head. “In that battle…I lost control of my own powers. I’m too new at this whole thing. And on top of that, it took me so long to recover enough to be able to fight with you guys again. I have a lot to learn…” Her voice drifted off but she stiffened when she felt Jean’s gentle touch against her chin.  
His hand cupped her cheek and turned her head back to him. The smile on his lips was so reassuring that it melted her heart. She could have told him the biggest lie in that moment and she would have believed it. But instead, he whispered, “You saved all our lives. From what I gathered of what you guys said, had you not awakened your abilities and used them, all of us would be dead.”  
Her gaze darkened. “I watched every one die. Over and over and over. And it wasn’t like a dream. It was real. I watched it happen. I didn’t know what kind of fucked up world I was in. I felt sick to my stomach; I just wanted to throw up. But no matter how hard I tried or whatever I did… Nothing helped. I was trapped in that damned nightmare. I just wanted to – “  
Jean put a finger on her lips. He added, “And you survived and came out fighting.”  
Tsuki blushed a bit. “I guess I did. But I was pretty much useless in recovering Eren.”  
“You were not useless.” Jean corrected her. “You’re never useless. Even if you weren’t a Slayer, you’d still be one of the most valuable soldiers we have.”  
“How?”  
“You have more passion and strength in your heart alone then most armies have in all of their soldiers combined.” Jean told her. “I have no qualms with leaving my life in your hands. I know that I’ll be well protected. And having you on our squad makes me feel in and of itself.”  
Tsuki couldn’t help smiling even more. “Thanks Jean.” She brushed her hand along the side of his face. “Why don’t we go to bed?”  
“Can I stay in your room?” He teased.  
“Only if you think you can get away with it.” Tsuki teased back with a wink.


	65. Gaps in Darkness (Demi)

The voices around her were like whispers. They were drenched with malice and limitless hatred. She was dancing, lost in a swirl of color. Everywhere she turned, their faces were blurred out, but their words rang loud and true.  
“I hate you.”  
“Die you monster.”  
“You’re not wanted here you filthy ingrate.”  
“Why were you born?”  
“Get out of my sight.”  
No matter where she went, she was met with rejection, hatred, abuse. Her life was dark in her own world and the only lights she had were the bitter expressions of her own family. The family that wanted her dead.  
Monster,  
Monster, monster… monster!

Demi sat up suddenly and a scream ripped out of her throat. She was covered in a layer of sweat. Her sheets and the bed were damp under and around her and she was shaking from head to toe. Her dreams didn’t feel like dreams. They felt like distant memories of a person she never was.  
Her gaze dulled. Or maybe she was. Perhaps she was the very monster they all hated so much. She looked down at herself. The green night gown she had worn to bed as damp as well. She felt gross. She needed to bathe.  
Slowly she climbed out of bed when she heard a knock at the door. She asked, “Who is it?”  
“Uh, it’s… me.”  
She recognized his voice instantly. In her tiny world of darkness, his voice was like music to her. It calmed her and reassured her. At times, it maybe even convinced her that she wasn’t a monster. But who was she kidding? She was a Slayer. All Slayers are monsters. She flinched when she, for a moment, imagined another Slayer. This being looked a bit like her, but angier, scarier – demon like.  
She opened the door to a smiling Eren. He had two plates in his hands. It wasn’t the most appetizing meal, but it was enough to make her mouth water. He told her, “Tsuki made breakfast. I wasn’t going to wake you up… but we heard you scream. So I thought I’d come check on you.”  
Demi looked away, her eyes dark and clouded, “So I screamed out loud, huh?” When Eren nodded, she pressed, “And everyone heard?” He nodded again. Demi rubbed her face. “Damn that’s embarrassing.” She sighed and stepped aside. “Come in and eat with me. I’m gross and I don’t want to face everyone.”  
Eren followed her order and walked into her room, sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked at her, his glowing sea-green eyes soft as he asked, “Why don’t you like everyone?”  
Demi opened her mouth to answer, but nothing except a huff came out of her lips. She closed her eyes and took a bite of her bread and commented, “It’s not that I don’t like everyone. I’ve just never been around people.”  
“Ever?”  
“Not that I remember.”  
Eren made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth, remembering that just the other night, she had told him that she had no memories of herself before she was in the castle. He frowned. It must be so hard on her, to know so little of anything – even herself and be able to function normally. He touched the top of her head. Her dark brown hair was so soft and silky. When he ran his hand through it, the strands fell apart and melted between his fingers.  
She let out a noise and leaned against his chest. She gripped his shirt and whispered, “You’re the first person I’ve felt any kind of connection to at all.” He reached up, taking her hand in his own and holding it to his chest, against his beating heart.  
“We’ll make more connections.” Eren told her. “With or without your memories. All that matters is you, right now.”  
Demi’s cheeks flushed when he said all that mattered was her. She knew he hadn’t meant those words in that context, but she willed herself to believe it was true. For a while she stayed there, leaning on him as she ate her food.

A few hours later, everyone was sitting at the table in the kitchen, ready to discuss what they were going to do for the day. Armin and Leah were chatting, laughing, but Demi had noticed that Levi had yet to initiate any sort of discussion. In fact, he looked completely distracted. Demi started to say something when Tsuki let out a stretch and leaned back in her chair.  
She asked, “So what are we doing today?” Her gaze went to their captain.  
Levi glanced at Tsuki before explaining, “The original goal was for all of you to train and learn to use your abilities better. Then we’d practice working with Eren and his transformations. But that plan doesn’t work since Kana can’t train you guys. Unless…” His gaze went to Demi. “Would you be able to teach them?”  
Demi’s lips pursed. All of them were looking at her now. She didn’t want the attention. She didn’t want everyone focused on her. Her gaze turned away from the curious onlookers and she nodded her head. “I can at least teach them the basics. Slayers are all different and so training is mostly independent.”   
Although she didn’t remember her past, for some reason, she could remember things like this. How to use her powers, how to survive. She could teach them a few things anyway, but she didn’t want them to rely on her.  
Levi looked at the guys and ordered, “The rest of you will be working on squad formations. We’ll practice some and the ones that work best, we’ll practice as an entire squad.”  
All of them nodded in agreement.

Tsuki and Leah were standing in front of Demi who leaned against a tree, her heel dug deep into the bark. The girls were waiting anxiously but Demi frowned. She really didn’t want to do this. With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself off the tree and told them. “Alright. Here’s how it goes. I can’t teach you how to use your weapons. No two weapons are the same. They all have their own personality… so it would be like me telling you how to train your own child or something. I can offer you optional methods, but there’s no garuntee that anything will work.”  
Leah and Tsuki nodded. There’s faces were bright with hopefulness and determination. Demi looked down at her feet. How could they expect so much from someone who didn’t even know herself? But she straightened up and carried on. “The best way to use your Slayer powers is to communicate with your weapon. Establish a relationship with it. In all technicality, your life depends on them.”  
“So… you want us to…?” Leah asked.  
Demi flipped her hand around in the air. “Are you guys comfortable summoning your weapons yet?”  
They both nodded and closed their eyes. Within a moment or two, a fox dressed in silver light was waltzing around Tsuki’s legs while an orb of light floated beside Leah’s head. Demi stared at the ball of light. She had never seen or heard of a weapon like that. Then again, she had never heard of a human weapon either. “Good.” Demi told them. “Being comfortable with that is the first big step. Now, all that remains is establishing a full relationship with them. The more powerful the bond between the Slayer and weapon, the stronger they’ll be. There’s a such thing for a Slayer as a Full Synchrnoization, but I haven’t heard of anyone accomplishing that in all my time alive.”  
“Why not?” Tsukiko asked. “Why haven’t any Slayers been able to do that?”  
“In order for a Slayer to gain a full synchronization, the Slayer and the weapon both have to have the exact same mindset, goals, desires… everything. Even if you find two people who are alike enough to consider the same mindset, will most likely have different goals. In the middle of the battle, one wants to protect their friends and family, while the other wants to win. It’s not much of a difference, but it’s enough that they can’t synchronize. They’d be in each others mind, but wanting to do the exact same thing at the exact same moment.”  
Tsuki frowned at Demi. “Then… it that actually even possible?”  
Demi shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t honestly believe it… but I’ve been told it’s true.”  
“By who?” Tsuki challenged, still skeptical.  
Demi stopped short and her eyes widened. The question was like a dagger in her chest. She knew the knowledge and knew it to be true, but for some reason, she didn’t remember how she knew it was true or who had told her. That part of her memory was still lost to her and she put her hand to her face. She grumbled, “I don’t know… a teacher or something.”  
“A teacher taught you about Slayers?” Leah gasped. “Where? When?”  
“Let’s find this person! If you can only teach us the basics, maybe he can teach us more?” Tsuki asked, her eyes shimmering with hope.  
Demi looked away. “Yeah, maybe…”  
“So what do we do now?” Leah asked, already shifting excitedly.  
Demi waved her hand. “Why don’t you spend the rest of the day getting to know your weapons better? We’ll pick up tomorrow.” Before they could even argue with her, Demi was walking through the forest. Not really walking. Her legs were carrying her so fast she was nearly running. She wanted to run away.  
Being near people only reminded her of what few broken pieces of herself she had. She was better off in the darkness, alone, pretending she was whole. She was just picking up speed when her foot caught on a tree root. She let out a screech when her ankle twisted and she hit the ground face first.  
To her, the ground was warm. It was warm and welcoming and it enveloped her in a bliss that she couldn’t compare to anything else. It was the closest thing to happiness she’d ever felt. Her eyes closed and she drifted into a slumber.

“There you are…”  
Demi opened her eyes but didn’t move. She saw Eren kneel down to her, but his eyes were distraught with worry. “Tsuki and Leah said you never came back after running into the forest. I was worried something bad happened to you.” He softly touched her back. “What’s wrong, why are you laying here?”  
“It’s warm…” Demi mumbled.  
Eren gasped a bit. “Are you cold? Here.” He pulled his poncho off his shoulders and wrapped it around her body, gently lifting her up against his chest. Demi winced when her ankle turned weirdly but her body instinctively curled up.  
He was the only one that made her feel different. He was the only one who didn’t make her feel ashamed of a forgotten past. She knew it wasn’t intentional, but even small conversations made her feel bitter. Demi looked up at him and whispered, “I twisted my ankle. So I took a nap.”  
“Bad place to do that.” Eren chuckled, starting to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you back. Everyone is worried about you.”  
Absently, Demi repeated, “Worried about me?”  
“Yeah.” Eren stated. “Tsuki and Leah were frantic about you getting lost. So Levi-heichou sent all of us out on the hunt for you.”  
Demi grumbled, “They only care because they’d lose their only teacher.”  
Eren chuckled at her pessimism. “That’s not true. He said if you were so much as injured upon bringing you back, we were all in trouble.” His gaze went to her ankle. “And I hope our punishment doesn’t include more cleaning.”  
Demi laughed. For the first time in a long time, it was a bright, bubbly laugh. She told him, “Sucks to be you.”  
Eren gave her a playful glare. “Oh no, you’re helping us. You got yourself hurt, you know.”  
Demi playfully whined, “But my ankle hurts, I can’t work!”  
“We’ll just see about that.”


	66. Budding Crimson (Levi)

Levi was sitting in the main kitchen area having a cup of tea.  
There was a lot of noise outside; it bothered him.  
The window broke and a bucket rolled across the table.  
He had picked up his cup of tea just in time to avoid it being spilled and shattered by the projectile.  
An arguing Jean and Eren came in and grabbed the bucket before storming back outside.  
A moment later, Tsuki came in and apologized, “Sorry, Heichou. They were arguing and it got away from them.”  
He glared at her and demanded sharply, “They need to clean up the broken glass. Tell them it is to be done along with the rest of their chores today.”  
“Yes sir.” Tsuki saluted him before going back outside. Through the broken glass, he could hear her shouting at the boys about paying attention and to stop slacking off. He also heard her comment, “I think Corporal is having a bad day, so try to make it easier on him, alright?”  
A couple grumbling agreements answered her demands.  
He leaned his arm over the back of the chair. To him, it sounded like she was training a bunch of kids.

Levi stopped in front of a small house. It was really, really small. It was a tiny square home with just a few windows. He frowned. The outside alone looked filthy. There were cobwebs from the roof and down the brick, the shutters for the windows were falling off, the tiny lawn around the steps was unkempt and poorly nourished. He heaved a sigh.  
There were two soldiers out front, chatting amongst themselves and a few civilians. They weren’t even paying attention to him as he walked up. Pursing his lips he marched up to them and grabbed the collar of the closest soldier. “Oi, are you even paying attention?”  
The soldier gasped, quickly straightening up and saluting his superior. “Corporal Levi, my apologies, I didn’t see you.”  
He just glared up at the taller soldier and in a monotone voice, asked, “Obviously. What if I had been a thief or another civilian with malicious intent? If you were doing your job, you would have seen me. Your duty is to guard this home and the children in it.”  
The man dipped his head respectfully. “Yes sir. Sorry.”  
Levi scoffed and turned towards the building, marching up the few steps and opening the door. He looked around, feeling his frustration worsen. The entire place was disgusting. The furniture was all old and smelled horrible, there was dust covering everything, and there was a terrible odor and stains all over everything.  
He walked on inside against his better judgement, letting the door shut behind him. It blew his mind that anyone would think children could live in a place as gross as this. He started to take his shoes off but stopped abruptly when he saw how much dirt was all over the floor. He felt disrespectful walking into this house without shoes on, but he didn’t think he’d be able to make it across the living room in just his socks. He set the bag of groceries he’d been carrying on the table in the kitchen. His eyebrow twitched when dust flew up around it.  
Just how fucking old was this damn house?  
He looked around. There were no kids to be seen.   
Frowning, he made his way through the house, but there wasn’t even any noise coming from anywhere. Were they not here? He didn’t want to see that crimson beauty’s anger if the kids were lost on the first day.  
Actually, he did want to see it. He wanted to see if her temper matched what everything about her reminded him of – fire.  
He heard a noise in the furthest room and came to a stop. The door was slightly ajar. Cautiously making his way in, he saw three huddling forms in the back corner. The two young girls were curled up behind the boy who was holding a piece of wood he’d probably pried off from one of the door frames.  
The boy was glaring at Levi furiously and ordered, “Get away! I’m not afraid to kill you!”  
Levi’s brows arched. It was unusual for a boy his size to be spitting such fowl words. It made him laugh on the inside. He knew exactly where that kid had gotten it from. He walked on into the room but the boy straightened up, despite his hand trembling around the wood. The boy yelled again, “I mean it! I will protect my sisters no matter what! Sissy told me to! So I will! I really really will! Okay!” He jumped when Levi stepped closer again. “I mean it, mister! I’ll swing! I have to protect them!” Another step. “Go away! Go! Go! I will kill you!”  
Levi knelt down to one knee and put his hands up. The kid had spunk. He didn’t want to upset or scare the children anymore by forcing them or ripping the wood away. He imagined that it probably made the boy feel safe. The last thing he wanted to do was strip away the only defense the kid thought he had. “I value my life. The last thing I want to do is fight you.”  
The boy swung his weapon around in front of Levi’s face, yelling, “Then get out of here! I might just spare your life!”  
Levi had to resist a chuckle. “I would appreciate that. But I actually had a proposition for you, brat.”  
The boy just continued to glare. Levi was startled by the fact that his eyes were every bit as crimson red as his sisters. But that was it. He had spikey blond hair and was stockier and shorter limbed than his sister. In fact, all three of them had those bright, alluringly red eyes. The older of the two sisters had messy purple hair and a chubby face. Meanwhile the youngest girl had barely any hair. It was snow white but her skin was pale and he could see the blue veins running just under her skin. She looked sick. She needed to see a doctor.  
Levi looked back at the boy and said, “Since you’re being nice enough to spare my life, why don’t I cook you some dinner? Are you hungry?”  
The boy started to thrust his weapon at Levi again but stopped short. His stomach let out a long growl of rage and the older sister tugged on his shirt.  
“Cam, Cam. Hungry.”  
The boy gritted his teeth and ordered Levi. “Fine. Cook us food! B-But… bring it in here! And then leave!”  
Levi’s gaze softened. For so young of a child, he had the right mindset. He was protecting his sisters with everything he had. He asked, “Do you have enough blankets to keep warm? Is there any place in here clean enough for you to sleep?” He asked a few more basic questions but got no response. The boy just glared up at him with those dark red eyes.  
Levi got up and left the room, doing as he was told and making them their dinner. He fixed up a couple meals for the first part of the next day and put them on the table. Hopefully the kid was smart enough to portion it out to make it through until he returned.  
While waiting on everything to cook, he cleaned off the bed in the first room and put new sheets on it – since he’d luckily anticipated that the place would be disgusting. Unfortunately it was too late for him to start really cleaning the place. It would have to wait until tomorrow.  
Once he was done, he took three plates of food into the room the kids were hiding in and set them down in front of them. The boy hesitated and growled, “You didn’t poison them did you?”  
“Why would I waste expensive poison on you, brat?” Levi asked.  
“Cause you’re afraid I’ll kill you while your back is turned!” He pointed the stick at him again.  
Levi sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “If you were going to kill me, you would have done that by now.” He knelt down again, a small smile coming to his lips when the older girl darted around him and started devouring the food on the plate, not even using her utensils. He looked at the boy and told him sternly, “I know you don’t trust me, but if you want you and your sisters to survive, then you’ll eat the food I left on the table for you. Ration it out.”  
“R-Ration…” The boy repeated it, but his expression was twisted like he didn’t know the world.  
Levi sighed. These weren’t his soldiers. He had to talk kid lingo or he wouldn’t get anywhere. “Eat some for breakfast and some for lunch. I’ll come back to make more for you tomorrow evening. I also cleaned the bed in that first room so you have somewhere clean to sleep. There’s extra blankets beside the bed. I put some cleaning supplies in the bathroom so you can wash yourselves up in the morning. Do you need anything else before I leave?”  
The boy was now digging into his food as well. He flicked his hand and with a full mouth, growled, “No, you’re dismissed.”  
At first, Levi’s eyebrow twitched, but then he smiled. He dipped his head and respectfully said, “Thank you sir, I’ll take my leave.”   
After double checking everything, he made his way out of the house, locking it up tight behind him. The red eyes lingered in his head. He supposed for most people, they were probably scary, or intimidating – maybe even creepy. But to him, they reminded him of a time he’d nearly forgotten. The pair of red eyes that lingered from his past.  
They were all too similar.

The next day, he followed Erwin into the trainee camp. Earlier that day, Kana had proven to be every bit as full of herself as he expected when she talked down to Shardis. When the trainees moved on to their first exercises, he saw that Kana and the other girl who’d been eating were forced to run for the rest of the day with no food.  
His eyes followed her every move. She was beautiful. That red hair was untameable and her eyes were undeterred. She had a clear goal and nothing was going to stand in her way. That kind of confidence in a woman was hard to find and it made his heart race. He wanted to help her attain that goal.  
He wanted to see the look of fulfillment in her eyes when she achieved it.  
“Levi?”  
Levi looked over at Erwin who had been watching him for some time. Specifically, he noted that he had taken notice of him watching Kana. When he looked at his commander, the blonde man demanded, “You’re not getting any wild ideas, are you?”  
“Of course not, sir.” Levi answered plainly, but he didn’t look at his senior officer. There was nothing in his gaze but the dark crimson below him.  
“We must not forget our past, but we have to put it behind us.” Erwin ordered him. “If we hope to move forward. Remember Levi, the past is not coming back.”  
“I know sir.” Levi turned on his heel and walked the opposite way of his commander. His hand went to the cravat around his neck. Just below the fabric, he felt a small, round metal piece. He gripped it tightly. Despite his own response to Erwin, he knew his heart was thinking something else.  
He trusted those words he heard once so long ago.  
“I swear. I will come back.”

Levi looked over, seeing that Eren and Jean were cleaning up the broken glass. Eren was sweeping it up while Jean held the dust pan. When Jean stood back up, they headed back for the door when Levi snapped, “I hope you weren’t finished.”  
Eren flinched but Jean grumbled, “Yeah? We swept up all the glass.”  
Levi glared at the soldier. “And what about all the scrapes in the floorboard caused by the glass? Or how about taping up the now gaping window? The sills will all have to be replaced as well. You have a lot more to do.” He glared at the setting sun. “And it’s almost night time, so I would hurry.”  
Jean looked at Eren in disbelief who just motioned for him to go outside and do as he was told. Eren waved his hand. “You got it! We’ll get right on it, Heichou.”  
Levi sipped at his hot tea.  
It had gone cold.


	67. Play Hard (Mikasa)

Mikasa stood in front of the well. This far out from the wall, they were drinking well water. She looked down as she slowly cranked the turnstyle until the bucket was embedded in the water. There wasn’t a lot left. It needed to rain within the next week or someone would have to make a run back into town. She frowned. And depending on how much it rained, someone may have to anyway.  
She looked over, her obsidian hair falling in her face. Eren was with the other guys, sparring again. But at this point, Eren was chasing Armin around because he was too afraid to fight while Jean laughed and Levi glared at them.  
For being in titan territory, it was rather peaceful here. She started pulling the bucket back up. No, this was no longer titan territory. Wall Rose had been deemed a safe zone and everyone allowed to return. She gritted her teeth. It was a stupid decision, she thought. Since they had no idea how the titans had gotten in. As far as she was concerned, they were all in danger.  
She sat down against the well. For all she knew, though, they were safer than Clay was. Her hand clenched over her chest. She refused to believe that he had taken the side of the titans, but then why didn’t he stand and fight with Eren? He had helped them in their fight, so the titans had known he’d betrayed them. So why did he still return?  
She stared at the grass between her feet. She missed him so much it hurt. Her grip tightened on her shirt but she was startled when a shadow was cast over her. She looked up to Levi glaring down at her. He growled, “You’re slacking. If you’re not doing anything useful, then go see if the girls need any help.”  
Mikasa scoffed. She was the only female on the team that wasn’t a Slayer. She didn’t want to be with those girls, all of whom could easily outmatch and outwit her. No, she belonged with the rest of the humans. Besides. Eren and Armin were with this group. And without Clay, they were all she had.  
She got up and dusted herself off, snapping at him, “I’ll get back to work.” She started to pull the bucket out of the well when she noticed something around the corner from the cabin. It was just barely peeking out from the wall. It looked like a nest made by a bird, but it was more round and twigs were tightly strewn together.  
She had seen something like this before. Completely forgetting about the bucket, she walked over to the tumbleweed and lifted it up in her hands. A warm smile spread on her lips, remembering the first time she had seen Clay.

Clay grumbled as he walked across the open field between the cabins. All day, all participating applicants for the training corps were having to take physicals – endurance tests, exams, all kind of crap. It was just a formality. It’s not like the military could afford to turn anyone down. Still. It was annoying.  
He was almost to the infirmary for more tests when he noticed a small group of trainees standing by themselves. But what he really noticed was the girl. She had hair as black as night, but she was tall and slender and from her profile, she had the softest face, offset by a set of aggressively dark eyes. He had never seen anything so perfect in his life.  
The boy beside her looked like he was out of patience – much like him. He could tell just from the way he was talking that he was complaining about having to wait around on all of the tests.  
They all just needed a way to pass the time. To the side of the field, he noticed a pile of sticks that were too thin and wet to be used as firewood. It sparked the perfect idea. When he was a kid, they used to create makeshift tumbleweeds to throw around and play games with.  
He spent about half an hour tying the thicket together until it was tight enough that it wouldn’t fall apart. He tossed it up and down a few times before smiling and walking over to the bitching brown-haired boy. “Hey, you look like you could use a stress reliever.”  
The boy turned and asked, “Huh? Do I know you?”  
“No. But my name is Clay Haugist. You are?” He held his hand out respectfully, the ball under his other arm.  
“Eren Jaeger.” The other boy answered, shaking his hand.  
Without making himself seem too eager, he casually asked, “And your friends are?” As soon as he asked, his hazel eyes went straight to the girl.  
Pointing to the small blond boy and then the girl, Eren introduced, “This is Armin Arlert, and Mikasa Ackerman.”  
For a few moments, Clay watched Mikasa. Her gaze was void of emotion, but at the same time, it was overflowing with compassion and protectiveness. He frowned, suddenly wondering if the girl already had her heart set on the Eren kid.  
No matter.  
He suddenly tossed the ball at Eren who caught it with a gasp. Clay smirked. He’d win the black haired girl over. Clay chuckled and asked, “Why don’t we throw it around a bit? Take the stress off?”  
Eren started walking back into the field. “Yeah, okay.” They walked a ways apart and Eren stared at the ball with his brows furrowed. The kid looked like he’d never thrown a damn ball before. He waved his hands and ordered, “Just throw it!”  
Eren took his time swinging his arm back and throwing the ball as hard as he could. The sphere spun in the air for a while, but landed about a foot in front of Clay. With a heavy sigh he picked up the ball of twigs and arched a brow at Eren. “Dude. You throw like a freaking girl. Man up.”  
Eren glared at Clay and his fists clenched tight. He snapped, “Throw it back! Let’s see how well you throw!”  
Clay sighed and flicked his hand. “Step back a ways, I don’t want to hurt you delicate little girl arms.”  
Eren stomped back a few steps and glared at him. Clay threw the ball fast and sharp. Eren barely had time to get his hands up to catch the ball but the impact knocked him right off his feet and onto his back. Clay had to bite back his chuckle and asked, “You okay?”  
He walked up and held his hand down to him. Eren took it and pulled himself up. Once he was back to his feet, he noticed that at first, Mikasa had been pissed at him for knocking him over, but now her expression was filled with surprise as he helped the boy to his feet.  
Eren asked, “Where did you learn to throw like that?”  
Clay shrugged. “Bored as a kid, found things to do.” He picked the ball up and told him, “But here’s your problem, here’s how you need to throw properly.”  
For another half hour, Clay showed Eren how to control his arm and get the right range of motion in order to get any force behind the ball. By the end of the time, Eren was throwing about twice what he was. When he threw the ball the last time, though, he wasn’t paying attention and threw it right towards Mikasa.  
Clay shouted, “Mikasa! Watch out!”  
She didn’t even seem phased. As the ball came flying at her, she swung her leg up and kicked it full force, sending it flying back at them. The ball hit Clay’s stomach hard enough that it knocked the breath out of him. He stared at her with surprise and smirked. “Damn girl. You got a pair of legs on you…”  
Mikasa smirked as she stood back up straight and her hair fell back over her shoulders. “Eren is usually getting picked on. So I have to save him often. Tends to build muscles.”  
Eren gasped and shouted at her, “Shut up Mikasa! Don’t tell people that!”  
Clay couldn’t help the smile on his lips. The girl was strong and he admired that. It meant that she’d be able to hold her own wherever she ended up. He tossed the ball to Eren and told him, “Keep practicing. I’m gonna go finish these stupid tests.” He looked at Mikasa and told her, “Nice meeting you. See ya around.”  
Mikasa watched the boy walk away. She didn’t know why her cheeks felt so warm. He was good looking, there was no doubt about that, but she’d seen several good looking guys. Maybe it was the fierce determination in his eyes that had her attracted to him.

Mikasa stared at the ball in her hands. It seemed like all of that was so long ago. So much had changed, but yet…  
She looked back, seeing that Eren had Armin in a headlock now. Mikasa turned and dropped the ball on the toe of her shoe. She kicked the twigs as hard as she could, watching it fly across the clearing and hit Eren right in the back of the head.  
He let Armin go and fell over on his face. Jean, Armin, and Mikasa all started laughing. A little bit of life returned to her. Clay was going to come back. She believed in her heart that he was good and whatever he was doing was for all of their benefit.  
But that night, sitting around the table enjoying dinner was as horrible as it always was. Her eyes brushed over Leah and Armin, laughing happily, then to Demi who was poking fun at Eren. Eren grumbled in return, but there was a smile and his eyes were filled with warmth. She couldn’t even let her eyes linger on Tsuki and Jean. Jean’s gaze was always on her, his hand touching her shoulder or her hand or something. He was always there for her.  
Every time she felt the sadness within her no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. On this squad, she was alone.  
But she would fight on until Clay returned to her.


	68. Created (Leah)

Leah was sitting in the middle of the forest, the little orb of light circling around her head. It let off a faint yellow glitter as it flew around. The closer it got to her, the warmer it was. It soothed her, but she didn’t know what Demi expected out of her. She couldn’t talk to something without a mouth.  
For a moment, it seemed to her like the little light dimmed a bit. But then she realized that a tree limb was falling nearly on top of her. She gasped and crawled out of the way, just a couple twigs smacking her. She stared at the limb and looked up, seeing the rest of the squad flying overhead.  
Levi landed beside her and quickly asked, “Are you alright?”  
Leah nodded and got to her feet. “Y-yeah I am.”  
Levi ran on by her, using his gear to take back off in the trees, shouting at the front runners, “Eren! You’re not supposed to be leading, stay within the formation!”  
Leah watched them all taking off. It had been a few weeks now since they had started hiding out in this little forest in Wall Rose. She felt that all of them were starting to get irritated with each other, but they needed to learn to function as a squad.  
She looked over when Armin landed on the branch that fell. His eyes were full of kindness as he said, “Sorry about that. I’m glad you’re okay. Eren is trying to show off and he and Jean keep fighting. They ended up cutting the branch off.”  
“It’s okay. I probably shouldn’t just be sitting out here while you guys are training.” Leah frowned when the orb landed on her shoulder. She looked at him and asked, “Shouldn’t I be doing your guys’ kind of training? I’m not getting anywhere with Djovaak.”  
Armin shrugged. “That’s not my call. The Captain said he wanted the three of you to focus on practicing with your weapons.”  
“I know but – “  
Armin jumped down and gave her a warm hug. Leah melted into the embrace and relaxed against his body. He stroked her hair and told her gently, “You have to imagine, from our point of you… you girls are as essential as Eren. You’re all our only hope of overcoming the Titans. So we need every advantage you can give us.”  
“I know. I’m trying, but I can’t talk to Djovaak. Demi told me to communicate with it, but how can I?” Leah asked, pulling away. Her purple eyes were filled with worry and hope all in one. Armin was a genius. He always had a plan, so maybe he could help her out.  
The smaller boy thought for a bit before he asked, “Is there a possible way of communicating without speaking?”  
“Like what?” Leah asked.  
“Well, we talk a lot through our body language and facial expressions. Perhaps Weapons have their own essential way of speaking as well?”  
Leah stared at her tiny orb of a weapon and let out a slow breath. “Maybe there is…” It was dancing around in the air, flickering its light. “He spoke to us before… from the sky. But he hasn’t spoken to me since. Maybe there’s a way for me to call him to me, to want to say something to me.”  
Armin touched her back and said, “Do your best, Leah. I need to hurry and catch back up before the Captain comes back and yells at me. He’s in a bad enough mood, I don’t want him to take it out on me. Or you.”  
Leah nodded, giving him a swift peck on the lips and then watching him fly off into the trees. After he was out of sight, she walked back to the middle of the field and sat down, watching the orb of light floating around. She concentrated on it. How could she communicate without words? An orb of light couldn’t have body language either.  
So what was she supposed to do?  
She lay back and stared up at the small hints of sky between the trees. Maybe Tsuki was having better luck than she was? There were a couple clouds in the gentle blue sky, just enough to tease them at the thought of a little rain. Boy did they need it.  
The orb of light cut off her line of sight. Leah flicked her hand, trying to get it out of her way when she stopped. It was spinning around right in her line of sight. Was it trying to tell her something? Was this communication?  
The light glowed and suddenly Leah was in darkness. The trees and the sky were all gone. There was a small patch of grass at her feet, but that was it. Everything else was swallowed in shadow. Leah looked around frantically. “What’s going on?”   
The light that she knew was her weapon began to expand until she was surrounded by an area that was unfamiliar to her. It was a small valley with little cabin-like buildings. There were a ton of people running around, all in matching uniforms bearing the symbol of twin swords on their patches.  
She suddenly recognized where she was at.  
“The training grounds…” Leah whispered. As though on cue, Keith Shardis walked out and yelled at all the kids, watching them frantically run into place in the line up in front of him.  
Leah watched for a few moments as the scene played out around her. Several trainees were all gossiping to each other before being suddenly hushed by their superior. She giggled when some were punished severely for not doing what they were supposed to. But her eyes landed on a group of kids that lingered outside the cabin. After Shardis had released them to their barracks, some of the bigger kids were surrounding the smaller ones.  
She gasped when she saw them pushing him around. She ran towards them, desperate to help, but when she touched their shoulder, she faded through like a ghost. Her eyes widened as she stumbled forward and fell to the ground. She rolled onto her butt and looked as the kids dragged the smaller boy away. What would happen to him?  
Her heart yearned for the poor and she remembered… what if she hadn’t been there that day? How much different would her life be?

Leah waved goodbye to Tsuki, Kana, and Clay. It was late in the evening but she was going to the nurse for a check up. She was a small girl with a light composure. She wasn’t one for fighting, but she didn’t understand why the nurse insisted on always giving her a thorough check up at the end of each night. But she knew better. Her guardians had insisted it. They disliked the idea of her joining the military, but after finally convincing them to let her go, they gave her a few conditions that she had to abide.  
She wondered if her parents would be so uptight?  
Or her sister?  
After going through her usual check up and having her blood drawn, she headed back to the cabins. On her way back, she heard a noise behind the mess hall. Walking around, she saw a couple of the senior officers were pushing a small boy around. They taunted him and asked him why a scrawny guy like him wanted to join the Survey Corps.  
She glared at the back of her head. She didn’t care if they were her commanding officers or not, no one spoke to a trainee that way. Quietly, she picked up a couple decent sized rocks and peeked around the corner. In a swift move, she threw both of them at once, one hitting the first captain in the jaw, the other hitting him right in the eye.   
Leah quickly scrambled up the brick wall and pulled herself onto the ceiling, watching as the officers ran around the corner in search of the culprit. Once they were out of sight, she jumped down to the boy. She recognized him now, with his blonde hair and big blue eyes. His name was Armin. He was a kid that was always with Eren and Mikasa when they hung out with the rest of them.  
She gently whispered, “Are you okay?”  
“Yeah, they weren’t hurting me.” Armin told her, standing up straight. “Thanks for getting them to back off, though. I’m not very good at standing up for myself.”  
Leah’s eyes were warm. He was a lot like her. She didn’t like confrontation and she was weak. Through most of her life, she had been the target of bullying. She understood him more than he could ever realize. She fixed his jacket collar and whispered, “Just because a person is physically weak, does not make them any weaker or less of a person. In fact, it’s people like you and I that can’t depend on strength, we grow greater in ways others are unable to.”  
Armin’s face flushed and he looked down. “In what way am I of any good? I’m just in the way.”  
Leah took a step back and put her hands on her hips. Her lavender hair bounced over her shoulders and she snapped at him, “Your friends talk all the time about how smart you are! Every good team needs a good strategist. An army with nothing but brawn is a doomed army. We can’t fight the titans with strength. We need skill, cunning, and smarts.”  
Armin chuckled lightly. “I guess that is true. Eren and Mikasa are always trying to make me feel better about myself.”  
“Good. You should feel good about yourself.” She told him. “And if you ever start to feel down, why don’t you just come talk to me? I’ll cheer you up.”  
Armin blushed outright and stuttered, “Y-You can come to me, too… i-if you ever need to.”  
Leah laughed, thinking to herself just how cute this boy was. He didn’t do a lot of talking, so she’d had no idea that such a big personality as hidden in such a small boy. Leah flicked her head. “Well, we need to get back for the evening. We have to be up early for super special secret training!”  
Armin dipped his head and agreed. “Yeah!”

Leah gasped when she was sitting back in the middle of the forest. But there was no light to be seen. Her eyes widened and she panicked, looking for her weapon. She had started to call out to her weapon again when she heard a familiar voice.  
I see you’re opening up more.  
Leah’s eyes widened. Like the last time she’d heard him speak, his voice was decending from the sky. She asked, “Djovaak!?”  
Yes?  
Leah frowned and asked, “Why haven’t you been answering me?”  
I was. You were not hearing me. You cannot listen to me with your ears, child. I have no form, no voice to project my words to you. So you can concentrate and listen with all of your might, but words will not come.  
“Then what is this? How are you speaking now?” Leah asked. Even as she questioned the great being, she knew that she wasn’t hearing words. The voice that she felt was coming from the sky, actually seemed to be coming from inside of her. Her body reverberated with the feeling of warmth that overcame her with every clause.  
I can speak only through emotion. You must feel my words and thoughts in order to understand them. I am a true weapon. Therefore, a link must be established between weilder and weapon in order for there to be strength. When you were on the battlefield, when I first heard you calling out to me, and when I replied, you were drowning in desire and determination to save your friends. I could feel it and it made me feel happy. Our link was first established then and once more when you were fighting the second time. It may prove difficult for us to speak outside of battle, however, this is what we’re built for – fighting together.  
Leah’s jaw was gaping open. Something he’d said struck her curiosity. “What do you mean by a true weapon? Are you different from other weapons?”  
Every weapon has it’s own history. Some more gruesome than others. Amaak, the spirit in the fox, was actually originally a celestial power. Like me, it was just energy that had collected together enough to make a conscious and a form. But a long long time ago, humans caught the spirit and forced it into a fox. It was one of their first experimentations. She lost much power when she was embedded in the fox. Sarthis is a mystery to me. I sense true power… but I also sense something more… animalistic and fearsome. Mizuki, however, is the weakest of the weapons. She, like most other weapons you will come across in your lifetime, was created.  
Leah didn’t even know how to fathom what she was being told. “What do you mean created? She’s just a little girl, right? Did they put a weapon inside the body of a child?”  
No. A child named Mizuki never existed. Humans built her from the collections of energies they gathered from beings like us. They used the solidified state of our energy to create a human like body to contain it in. But because the body is fragile and cannot collect nature’s energy like we’re supposed to, it’s a fragile weapon. Once, long ago they had caught me and tried to place me inside of a human body. But my power was too strong, I had collected energy for so long that I burned the body to ash within moments. I didn’t lose much energy in that short time and have long since gained it back. I’m the strongest of your friends and their weapons.  
Leah dropped to her knees. “I can’t believe this… so weapons were created by humans? But Kana told us that Slayers were born to use weapons to protect humans!? So…. Are we as Slayers a product of human experimentation?”  
There was a long stretch of silence. Finally, Djovaak answered, I do not know the answer to that question. Slayers and Weapons come from different pasts. All I know is that once long ago, a Slayer discovered that they could use a weapon without hurting themselves. If a human or a Slayer attempted to use a weapon that they had not linked with, they would burn from the inside out due to the fusion. There are a few weapons that are corrupt enough to hunt down Slayers and humans just to kill them. They are the White Weapons. When they fuse, the users eyes turn white, which is a sign of complete possession.  
“Kana told me that I had to trust you and let you take me over. Is that wrong?”  
Only you know who to trust, Leah. Slayers instincts are far greater than another other being. It’s only by letting me take over your body that we can fuse to any percentage. The more we trust each other, the more we link and the closer we can come to achieving a Full Sync.  
Leah’s eyes lit up. “Can we? Can we achieve a full Synchronization?”  
No. You and I cannot.  
“Why? I trust you!”  
We are not nearly to a level compatible with the linkage necessary to be fully synched. If someone dear to you, say… the blonde-haired boy… say his life was on the line and you could save him. But I told you no and that someone else would save him, that we were to play a bigger role, would you trust me? Would you risk his death by listening to me? When Leah went silent, Djovaak continued. That is just a small fraction of the link necessary to achieve an FA. And even if we achieved it, there is something more that Slayers and weapons require in order to fully sync.  
Leah asked, “What’s that?”  
Even I do not know. There were a few weapons that were origiallly born with human bodies. They would know the most about the specifics of the Slayers and Weapons powers. If you find them, you should get your answers.  
“Where are they?”  
I… do not know. My information is still limited to weapons only.  
Leah started to say something else to him when she heard her name called. She looked over, seeing Armin and the rest of the squad walking up. She noticed that Eren and Jean had a couple new bruises on them, but from Levi’s pissed off look, she wasn’t sure if they were from each other or the captain.  
Armin asked, “Did you have any luck talking to Djovaak?”  
Leah nodded. “Yeah, I did… and you won’t believe what I found out…”


	69. Flying Fists (Jean)

Everyone was in shock around the table. Leah had told them everything that Djovaak had told her, but before anyone could respond, Demi was to her feet. She shouted, “That’s a load of bullshit! That weapon is feeding you nothing but lies!”  
Armin glared at Demi and challenged, “You can’t just assume that. Unless you know more than you’re telling us!”  
Demi reached across the table and grabbed his collar. “Are you accusing me of lying you bastard!? I know what I’m talking about!”  
“I never said you were lying.” Armin yelled back.  
Leah stood up and reached to her friend. “Please leave him alone, Demi, don’t grab him like that.”  
Tsukiko also got to her feet. “Demi, you keep telling us you know these things, but it seems like you’re still being vague with us, like you’re leaving out details. What’s really going on!?”  
“I don’t know anymore than I’m telling you! I’m not a liar!”  
“No one is calling you a liar!” Tsuki shouted.  
Jean calmly growled. “But you sure are acting defensive. Are you sure you’re not hiding something?”  
Demi turned on him. Her emerald eyes were blazing with rage. Clenching her hand into a fist, she went to punch him with all her strength, but Tsukiko caught her hand and snarled, “If you lay one god damned hand on him, I swear I will kill you where you stand!”  
ERen touched Demi’s arm. “Please, let’s just all calm down here. Why do you think that Leah’s weapon is wrong?”  
“You’re really going to stand here and threaten me?” Demi growled. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the only one that can use her weapon properly. If we were to all be surrounded by titans, then I’m the one all of you would rely on. If I so chose it, then you’d be dead yourself.”  
“Is that a threat!?” Jean snapped.  
Tsukiko was starting to lose her patience. “I think you’re the liar here, Demi. There, I said it. You act like you know this stuff but you haven’t filled us in on any information. Why not!? I think you’re trying to hide information from us.”  
Leah challenged, “I trush Djovaak! He answered all of my questions and you haven’t answered any, Demi!”  
“Stop ganging up on her!” Eren yelled back at all of them.  
“Why are you taking her side!?” Jean snapped at the green eyed boy. “We’ve suddenly gotten more information than we have since we found out the girls were Slayers and you’re just blindly accepting some girl who is accusing it of all being lies!?”  
Armin stated, “It’s sounding to me like you don’t want us to learn anything.”  
“I’m not lying!”  
“Then prove it!”  
“Stop accusing her!”  
“Stop backing her up without proof!” “That weapon is the one that needs proof! Why don’t you demand it from him!?” “He’s not the one making slanderous accusations!” “No but you are! You’re just a bunch of stupid humans who don’t know – “  
“All of you damned brats shut the hell up right now!” Levi slammed his cup on the table and glared at the standing soldiers. “Sit. Down. Now.”  
All of them had gone quiet and exchanged looks, hesitantly doing as the captain ordered. Once he was sure they were all in control of themselves, he looked to Leah, “Now. When a Slayer and Weapon sync, they can see bits of the others’ minds’ yes? Then did you see anything that would give us a reason to doubt your weapon?”  
Leah straightened up, a questioning look in her eyes. “Did Kana-san tell you that?”  
There was an indecernable look in Levi’s eyes for just a moment. After a moment of him messing with his empty tea cup, he looked down and mumbled, “Kinda, yeah.”  
Ignoring the weird reaction from Levi, she said, “Yeah. I saw bits and pieces, but I didn’t really understand them. It was like watching clips of a movie you’d never seen before. But… despite not understanding them, they made me feel warm and comfortable. I didn’t feel anything threatening or menacing at all.”  
“The better your sync, the more clear the feelings will be, right? Did Kana say anything about that?” Tsukiko asked Levi, also glancing at Demi to give her a chance to pitch in.  
Levi wasn’t looking at any of them now. “No. She didn’t say anything about that.”  
Demi’s hands were fisted in her lap and she growled through gritted teeth, “It’s true what Kana said. That’s part of the link. The more you trust each other, the more you open yourself up to be invaded through mind and spirit. By attaining a full synchronization, then you’re not afraid if your weapon knows every secret about you. But what he said about the weapons being created is a lie. All weapons are born of nature. Humans have never created a weapon before. Ever.” Her eyes widened when she spoke the words, almost like she was remembering a terrible memory.  
She shot from the table and hissed, “I’m going to bed.” Without even waiting a second for any response, she stormed up the stairs and to the rooms. With a deep frown, Eren followed her.  
Tsuki mumbled, “I don’t get her… Sometimes she’s really cool, but other times, I can’t even figure out what she’s thinking.”  
Leah nodded her head. “I get a feeling she’s struggling with something she hasn’t told us about… maybe there’s a reason she’s keeping things from us.”  
“But what could be that important?” Armin asked.

Tsuki was folding up the clean laundry that she had brought in earlier that morning and putting it away into the dresser. Jean was laying on the bed, flipping a coin into the air that he had found outside in the forest. It looked like a foreign coin that wasn’t in circulation anymore since all the countries had lost their territories and converted to one currency. He’d wanted to keep it, thinking that it was worth something.  
He watched at Tsukiko carried the now empty basket out of the room and set it in the hallway for the next person to use. She walked back in, the door shutting behind her. When she smiled at him, it made his heart race and he forgot to catch the coin, letting it fall back on his face. She was wearing a soft white gown that went to her knees. She sat on the edge of the bed and asked him, “I was really surprised at how Demi acted today.”  
“I’m glad you caught that punch.” Jean told her. “I can imagine getting hit by a Slayer is much like getting hit by a titan.”  
“You would know, wouldn’t you?” Tsuki teased him.  
Jean looked at her with confusion and then gasped when he remembered, “You’ve punched me before!”  
Tsukiko laughed out loud. “I didn’t know I was a Slayer, though.”  
Jean rubbed his cheek while sitting up. “I can’t believe I’d almost forgotten about that. Whether you knew or not, it still hurt!”

It was the night that all of the trainees had gotten into a huge brawl. For weeks he had gotten tired of seeing the group that wanted to join the Survey Corps laughing to their hearts content. Why would they want to willingly go fight the titans? All of them were strong and were a part of the top ten. They could all just relax in the innermost wall and never have to fight them.  
But speaking his mind had gotten him a solid punch to the face. The first ones to actually start hitting each other was Reiner and some guy that had called him a name. Reiner had taken a piece of the table and unloaded on the kid like no tomorrow. With wide eyes, Jean had been watching him, just catching Tsuki moving in on him in time to feel the punch on his cheek.  
He stumbled back into the table, holding his cheek and spit out blood from where he bit it. He didn’t want to hit the girl, but she was really pissing him off. He let out a shout of rage and ran back at her, but Marco grabbed his arms and held him back. While he struggled, Tsukiko came back in and hit him again in the stomach.  
She scolded him, “Why can’t you mind your own damn business!? You’ve been bothering me since the day I came into the training Corps! What I choose to do with my life has nothing to do with you!”  
Jean was trying to kick at her when she punched him, but Marco was keeping him from doing anything rash. He shouted back at her, “Because you have so much talent! Joining the Survey Corps means you’re going to waste it by dying on the battlefield! It’s pointless!”  
“Eren is right! What’s the point in having the strength to fight and doing nothing with it!” Tsukiko yelled. “Since you have talent, you should want to join as well! Live for something more important! Die with honor instead of living with shame!”  
Jean finally ripped away from Marco and screamed at her, “I don’t even know why I bother talking to you! I don’t care if you live or die!” He went to throw a punch at her, the same time that she was going to punch him.   
Before either of them could react, there was a flash of black between them. It was an impossibly fast movement and his eyes widened. Kana glared at him just as his and Tsuki’s fist met with either side of her face. They heard the sickening crack as her body twisted between them and she hit the ground.  
Tsukiko dropped down and shouted, “Kana! Kana, are you okay!? I’m so sorry!”  
Kana coughed on blood and mumbled, “Look at yourselves… you two… aren’t really that different.”  
Tsukiko and Jean looked at each other while Kana spoke, “Both of you… just want your own version of freedom and you’ll do anything for it. But what you two envision is different. You’re both willing to put all your strength into gaining your freedom whether its within the walls or outside of the walls. This stupid fighting is pointless. We’re all screaming over the same thing. We’re all thinking the same thing:  
‘I just want to live…’”   
She got back to her feet with Tsukiko’s help. “So can we just stop this senseless fighting?”  
At about that time, Shardis walked in, yelling at all of them.

The next day, Tsukiko had gone out of her way to apologize to Jean. After she walked away, though, he saw her in a new light. She wasn’t an idiot. She was a powerful woman who couldn’t be controlled. Like the ocean, she traveled where the tide took her, but she was powerful and fluid.  
For the first time, he felt his heart racing as imagined how wonderful she must feel to always do her best and excel at everything she did. He had to work hard just to get the results he wanted. For the first time, he admired another person.  
Marco patted his back and asked, “What are you staring at Jean?”  
“Huh, oh nothing.” Jean told him. By the time he looked back for Tsukiko, the goddess was already gone from his line of sight. He glared at Marco and demanded, “Where the hell were you?”  
“Huh?” Marco ignored his question and asked, “Where you admiring Tsukiko from afar? I thought I’d caught you staring at her.”  
Jean snapped at him, “I’m not interested in her, Marco, you’re stupid.”  
Marco laughed and waved his hand. “Whatever, liar. As your bestfriend, I see right through you. I’ll go talk to her for you.” He started off.  
Jean gasped and grabbed his arm. “Don’t you dare – “  
“Don’t worry. When you two get married, then you can thank me!” He laughed, his eyes glowing.

Jean stared down at his feet on the bed. He and Tsukiko had both gone silent. Marco had played a major roll in the two of them getting together. He regretted that they hadn’t been able to make it official until long after he was gone.   
So now, he would never get the chance to thank him.  
Tsukiko tried to shrug off the morbid attitude. “Can you believe what he said to me?”  
Jean chuckled, but it was weak. “That’s Marco for you…”

“Tsukiko!”  
Tsuki turned around, surprised to see Marco running up to her. She asked, “Can I help you?”  
Leah had been standing with her and Reiner chatting. When Marco ran up, Reiner had mussed her hair and taken off. Her cheeks were a warm color and Leah teased her. Marco casually asked her, “Are you and Reiner dating?”  
She gasped and turned on him, “Why do you want to know?”  
Marco put his hands up. “I was just thinking you should go out with Jean instead.”  
Tsukiko stared at him, dumbfounded. “What?”  
Leah gasped and poked her friends side. “Oh my gosh, Jean Kirchstien totally has the hots for you, too. Wow. You got it goin’ on girl.”  
Tsukiko elbowed Leah and glared at her. “Shut up! Stop teasing me! This is obviously enough one of that guys’ tricks. He’s just been harassing me since day one.”  
“Really?” Leah asked.  
Marco suggested, “Maybe he’s teasing you cause he likes you?”  
Tsukiko shook his head. “No. That is not what’s going on. Trust me. Did Jean ask you to do this, Marco?”  
“No… I just did it cause I think he’s too shy to tell you that he likes you – “ Marco gasped when Jean came up behind him and yanked him back.  
Jean snapped, “Marco, will you shut up!?” He dragged him back. “Sorry Tsuki, ignore this guy. I don’t know what’s gotten in to him, he just suddenly thinks that cause we shook hands that we should go out.”  
“It’s not cause you shook hands! It’s cause you – “ Marco gasped when Jean covered his mouth and dragged him out of hearing distance.  
Tsukiko stood there with a dark blush on her cheeks. For a moment, she toyed with the idea that Jean might actually like her, but as quickly as the idea came, it was gone. Reiner had been really nice to her and there was no question as to what his motives were. She knew he was interested in her just as she was in him. There was no sense in her even thinking about Jean.  
She pushed Leah on forward. “Come on. We need to get to the training grounds before Shardis chews our asses out.”  
When they went to the field, she looked over, seeing that Kana was coming from another direction. Her gaze was curious as she watched the red head merge back in with the crowd. Where had she gone for the evening?  
Clay ran up to them and put his arms around their necks as they walked. “Bout time you guys showed up.”

Tsukiko watched Jean who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. He stared at the coin in his hand. She knew what he was thinking about. The friend that had been left behind. The friend that had lost his life alone where no one could find him. She had remembered seeing Marco’s body the first time and it still made her sick to her stomach to remember.  
She crawled across the bed and sat in his lap, her arms sliding around his neck. As soon as she held him, he let his head fall against her shoulder. He gripped her shirt and held her against him as he breathed her in to calm himself down. She was the only thing that calmed him. Without her, he’d be a stressed out mess.  
After a bit, he lifted his head up and Tsuki cupped his face and asked, “Are you okay?”  
“Yes. I’m fine. Every now and then, I just remember…” Jean’s voice cracked and he let out a shudder. She leaned down and gave him a slow and tender kiss. He instantly closed his eyes and was taken to another place where it wasn’t as painful to be in. His hand slid up to her beautiful blonde hair and tangled into it, holding her against him.  
For several moments, he lost track of everything except her. There was nothing but her hands running over his chest and shoulders, her lips dancing against his, her soft breathing, her body crawling on his as he lay down on the bed. His body sank into the mattress as hers pressed down on him.  
He could hear the gentle sound of her fingers loosening the buttons of his shirt. His heart began to stutter when they brushed along his skin. Her nails traced the lines of his chest, slowly making their way down. Everything this woman did to him made him feel dizzy and wonderful. He deepened the kiss, letting a noise out when he felt her tongue against his lip. He parted them for her while his hands ran down her body, feeling her soft curves. He flipped her over onto her back and stared lovingly down at her.  
He brushed his fingers along her cheek. He would never grow tired of this woman. Just gazing upon her magnificent form was enough to make him happy. It seemed like so long ago that he first looked at her in this way. When he first fell in love with who she was and the way she was. His fingers trembled against her plush cheek, but she turned her head into his hand. He gasped when he felt those delicate tender lips against his hand.  
Her blue orbs gaze up at him and they were filled with such love and affection that he couldn’t breathe. He leaned down, kissing her forehead, then her nose, then her lips. His kiss was a little deeper than the last one as he slowly undid the collar of her gown so it fell open, exposing her collarbone. His fingers traced it the same way her’s had traced his body. He pulled back and stared at her in awe. Just a little bit of moonlight drifted into the room, dressing her in a silvery blue cloak that fit her so perfectly. Her eyes sparkled in the reflection of the light of the moon. It drew him in until he couldn’t take it anymore.  
He butterfly kissed down the side of her neck, earning a soft noise from her. She slid her arms around him and a bright smile split her lips. As she gripped the unnecessary fabric of shirt, Tsuki couldn’t help thinking how much she loved this man. He had always taken care of her, even when he was scared. He believed her and trusted her. So she would do whatever she could for him. Whenever she caught him thinking about his late friend, she knew she could keep his mind off of it. She could keep him thinking of better times. Of their future… of what Marco wanted for them.  
Tsukiko smiled when he lifted her up, sliding the gown away from her body. He pulled the blanket over the top of them and covered her body with his own as he kissed her endlessly into the late night.


	70. The Black Weapon (Eren)

Demi had stayed silent for the next day. Eren stayed beside her in her bedroom, but she wouldn’t even move her head from the pillow. He knew why she’d gotten so upset, so he understood even though no one else did. Part of him wanted her to tell the others so they wouldn’t be so hard on. He touched her shoulder softly but got no response out of her. Why didn’t she tell them? Was she afraid of what they’d say? That they wouldn’t believe her? Or was she embarrassed?  
The snake that had been resting in the window sill slithered towards the bed. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to Sarthis. He heaved a sigh and tried again, “Demi… will you at least talk to me? Say something. I’m worried about you…”  
Demi snapped at him. “Then stop being worried. I don’t need you to be worried. I am fine.”  
“You looked like you remembered something…” Eren whispered.  
Demi sat up slowly, but she wouldn’t turn to him. “I didn’t remember anything… I just… had a strong sense of déjà vu…” Her hands clenched into fists. “I am not wrong! All weapons are created of nature! They’re a collection of energy that take on physical form. They cannot be created…”  
Demi’s body shivered and she shook her head. She felt herself being moved to another time, but this time it was stronger than déjà vu. She heard words, words that rang a bell in her mind. They rattled her memory.  
“How did the tests turn out?”  
“The blood looks clean. I think she’ll survive. We’re not sure about the specimen though.”  
“That doesn’t matter. As long as she doesn’t die, we can try again. We have to protect the life of the Black Weapon until we’ve completed the process. Once we have, then it doesn’t matter what happens to it. We can kill it for all I care.”  
“You don’t want to upset the Queen. That the daughter of her best friend you’re talking about sir.”  
“I know. And they’ve given her up for experimentation. They obviously don’t care that much.”  
Demi gritted her teeth and covered her eyes. “What the hell…?”  
Eren held onto her shoulders and looked into her eyes worriedly. “Demi? What’s wrong? Did you remember something?”  
Demi mumbled, “What the fuck is a Black Weapon…?”  
“A Black Weapon?” Eren repeated. “Is that anything like the White weapon that Leah was talking about?”  
Demi shook her head and leaned to him. “A Black Weapon doesn’t exist. I just… let my mind run away with me.” She put her hand on his shoulder and got up. “I need to just get up and focus on something else.” Eren watched her, his eyes filled with worry. She was strong, but he knew that she was nothing but a tangled up mess inside.  
He wished she would let him help her.

Demi was standing in front of Tsuki and Leah who were both half decorated in their weapons. Leah had white and lavender plates covering her hands and feet up to her elbows and knees. Meanwhile, Tsuki was floating with her back and shoulders covered in white scales.  
Eren, Jean, and the rest of them were cutting firewood or working with Hanji to prepare some exercises to practice with Eren as a titan. His gaze kept going to Demi. She looked pale and exhausted. He was really starting to worry about her.  
Demi asked Tsuki, “So you have the power to travel through time, correct?”  
Tsuki shook her head. “No, I move time itself. Remember you and Kana were running through time.”  
Demi placed her hand to her forehead. “Right, I remember.” She turned to the other Slayer. “And Leah, your attacking weapon is a bow with your energy while your defense is a linking shielf of your energy, correct?”  
Leah nodded. “Yeah. You can also use them to fly! Watch this!” She moved her hands so that a piece of the shield formed in front of her, parallel with the ground and she jumped on it, hovering a few feet in the air.  
Tsuki asked, “And what are your abilities specifically, Demi?”  
“Sarthis is a blade.” Demi explained. “So scythes, knives, daggers, arrows, swords, spears, all that.”  
“Yours and Kana-sans are similar.” Leah stated.  
Demi shook her head. “No. Mizuki is a skin.”  
“Huh?” They both asked at once.  
“Her primary use, as you’ve seen are the gloves.” Demi explained. “The swords, if you ever pay attention, don’t have blades. They’re just a skin wrapped around her arms that get really hot so they sear right through anything.” She rubbed her head. “Tsuki, try shifting time around us.”  
Tsuki nodded and held her hands up. As soon as she did, a bubble shape appeared around her. It glowed in a silver light for a moment. When it went away, Tsuki looked back at Demi and started to tell her she did it.  
“-just a skin wrapped around her arms that get really hot so they sear right through anything. Tsuki, try shifting time around us.”  
Tsuki blinked. “Uh, I just did.”  
“No, around all of us.” Demi told her. “If you just do it around you, then I won’t be able to help you.”  
“How do I do it around all of us?”  
“Make it bigger.” Demi told her.  
“How?”  
“I… don’t know…” Demi rubbed her head again. It would be easier for her to teach them if she remembered how she had learned her powers.  
Tsukiko sighed and asked, “You don’t have any suggestions to help me?”  
Demi looked away disdainfully. “I’m sorry, I’m not a good teacher.”  
Tsuki frowned but Leah suggested, “Why don’t you show us how you use your weapon and show us how its done? Maybe we’ll get ideas on how to work ours?”  
Demi nodded and held her hands out. Sarthis slithered around her arms and turned into a massive green scythe behind her back and the blade curled around in front of her head. She saw her reflection in the curve of the blade.  
Leah whistled, “Wow. Sarthis is a killing machine…”  
Demi smirked. “Yeah, he’s pretty damn strong…” Her eyes widened as the words repeated in her head. Her stomach wrenched and she felt like she was being moved back into a life she didn’t remember once again.

“Stop it! Cut off the life support!”  
There was a terrible screaming coming from the other room. She had never heard such a terrible noise come from a living being. It literally sounded like the poor thing was dying over and over again. It was a terrible sound and she wanted to throw up.   
Demi was a tiny little thing. Her little body was tucked away under one of the carts where she’d hidden for hours. She was too scared to leave. More screaming was joining the original pained shriek. But all the other screams were cut short.  
“What have you done!? It’s going to kill us all!”  
“But it’s beautiful… Look how powerful it is…”  
There was a gagging noise and then a small crushing sound.  
“The Black Weapon… to think it was capable of such… power… This could change the wor- “  
There was another sick gagging sound followed by wet, rice crispy sound. Somebody was being broken apart.  
Demi felt her whole body jump under the cart when the door to the room she was hiding in was thrown open. The door flew across the room and hit the wall. For a moment, she heard the bent metal rattling on the floor. But then it was swallowed by the sound of the blood raging in her ears. Her thundering heart was so loud that she was sure it would give away her hiding place.  
The Black Weapon was right in front of her.  
She saw a shadow move across the light of the door way, but she heard no footsteps. Whatever it was, it was light on its feet. It moved across the room and shifted through some drawers. Was it looking for something?  
Demi felt the sweat drip down off her chin and onto the floor. Her breathing stopped completely. If she wanted to stay alive, she had to stay silent.  
It moved to the other side of the room, opening cabinets. No other sound came from the being.  
The cart was thrown off of her suddenly and crashed against the side of the wall. The sound was so loud in her silent world that she went deaf for just a second. Then her world was consumed by an animalistic roaring and she spun around, staring up into the eyes of death.  
A scream ripped violently from her throat.

Demi gripped her hair, an uncontrollable scream escaping her. It was endless. She kept seeing the monster over and over again. The Black Weapon.  
The true face of evil.  
Images of horror passed her vision as she dropped to her knees. She felt several people run to her side and try to calm her, but she couldn’t hear or see any of them. It wasn’t long before the memory of the fear and terror ripped her apart, taking her conscious from her.

Most of the squad was sitting in the living area, waiting for Demi to wake up. Eren nearly jumped out of his skin. He squeezed her hand from where he was sitting between the couch and coffee table (because Levi had ordered him off the coffee table). Demi shifted on the couch, but she said nothing, so Eren asked, “Demi? Are you okay?”  
“…Yeah…”  
“What happened?” Tsuki asked. She and Leah were both sitting in the chair beside the couch.  
Demi’s eyes were dead as she stared at the ceiling. “I have no memory from before I lived in the castle.”  
“What!?” Leah shouted. “Then why didn’t you just tell us? No wonder you can’t help us train!”  
Demi went silent again.  
“But then… so what happened?” Tsuki asked.  
“I remembered something…”  
Eren’s eyes lit up with hopefulness. “What is it?”  
“I kept having a sense of déjà vu since Leah spoke of the White Weapons…” Demi whispered, not looking at any of them. “Then I remembered…”  
“Remembered what?” Leah pressed.  
“There’s something far worse than Titans to be afraid of.”  
Eren and Levi both stiffened at this comment. Their gazes met for a brief moment and then ERen asked her slowly. “Demi? What are you talking about?”  
Demi turned her head slowly to Leah and asked, “Could you ask Djovaak a question? Ask him if he knows of Black Weapons?”  
“Huh? But I thought you didn’t believe him.” Leah stated.  
“I don’t. I just need clarification.” Demi whispered.  
Leah closed her eyes and after a moment, she shook her head. “He says there’s no such thing.”  
“There is.” Demi whispered. “I remember it attacking me. I don’t remember what it looks like… I just remember… listening to it kill. I don’t remember what happened to me after it found me.”  
Eren’s eyes were wide. She’d been attacked by something stronger than a titan? He had never seen this woman look this way and he wished he could take her pain away. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.  
“If we run into the Black Weapon… we will die. All of us. Slayers and Weapons and humans alike…”


	71. Deceisions (Kana)

3 weeks before…

Kana finally slowed to a stop in front of some run-down building. There was a broken water pipe sticking out of it and she tripped over it, falling to her knees. She was crying harder than she had in years. The sobs shuddered between gasps of breath.   
What the hell was she doing?  
One single sentence ripped away everything she had and everything that had ever been important to her.  
What did she have to fight for now?  
There was puddle of murky water on the ground between her elbows. Leaning up, she could see her dirty reflection. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes red and tired. Her hair was matted, especially where the ends were uneven on her right side. She reached her fingers up and touched the jagged strands.   
Since the accident, she kept her hair up at all times, but she had let her hair down for the first time in a long time the last few weeks. On her left side, her long crimson hair reached all the way down, past her breast and almost to the middle of her back. But on her right side, they barely even touched her shoulder, some still didn’t.  
She remembered the first time Levi had tied her hair up, scolding her about having her long hair down. If only she had listened then…

Kana started laughing, climbing back up on her horse. Her roan mare danced away from her, neighing in a way that made it sound as though she was mocking her. As soon as Kana’s foot was in the stirrup, the girl side-stepped and she slipped and landed right on her butt.  
She heard laughing behind her and one of the senior members of the squad, Erd, was watching her. He set his mug down on the rail and asked, “What are you doing out here messing with the horses so early?”  
Kana looked at the saddle that was leaning to the side, the pommel pointed almost directly at her. She frowned and got to her feet. “I was practicing tacking up my own horse.”  
He gave her a curious look. “Why, are you suddenly having issues with it?”  
She blushed and crossed her arms. “I haven’t gotten much practice.”  
“Oh? Did you guys not practice with horses when you were in the training squad?” Erd asked, leaning on the rail.  
“We did…” She commented. “But Leah and Tsukiko were always up before me and took the liberty of tacking my horse up for me. And now…” She didn’t finish her sentence, afraid that she shouldn’t tell him that the Captain had been setting her horse up for her. It was weird, like he knew that she didn’t ever do it herself.  
Erd looked at her curiously as though he were about to ask her what she was going to say when his name was shouted from inside the castle. Petra was waving her hand at him and ordered, “Captain wants you to go fetch some wood for the fire. It’s supposed to get cold tonight. Take Gunther!”  
Erd dipped his head and told Kana, “Good luck, kid. If you’re still struggling when I get back, I’ll give you some pointers.”  
“Okay, thanks.” She told him as he headed out, easily setting up his horse and taking off. She huffed, hands on her hips and went back to glaring at the mare who was prancing around now, just nibbling at the grass.  
She growled and ran at her, trying to grab her reins but the mare easily galloped to the other side of the lot. When she did the same thing again, the mare ran off, letting out a whinny of mockery. Kana grumbled and started to curse when the mare was suddenly pulled around in a circle.  
Kana gasped and ran forward, dead stopping when she saw Levi standing there, hand on the reins and glaring at her. “What are you doing out here, fooling around?” He demanded.  
She blushed and looked at her feet. She never felt more nervous than she did in his presence. For some reason, although she felt better being near him, that bored glare always gave her stomach the butterflies. She stammered, “I’m not… fooling around. I’m trying to learn how to tack the horse up myself. I can’t seem to…”  
Levi was patting the horses neck and asked, “Why? Am I not doing good enough for you?”  
She gasped and waved her hands back and forth. “N-No that’s not it! I just thought I should know how to do it myself. You never know when I’ll need to know…”  
For several more moments, he just continued to glare at her before turning around, leading her horse towards the stables. “Come on.”

“Did you even check to see if the saddle is sitting right? No wonder your horse hates you.” Levi scolded while Kana tried setting the saddle down.  
“Shut up!” Kana yelled at him over her shoulder. “She does not hate me!”  
As though just to prove her wrong, the mare turned her head and nipped Kana’s side. She spun around to smack the horses head away from her, but the sudden movement caused her to jump; the saddle came crashing down on Kana, knocking her to the ground. Her crimson hair spilled all over her face while she growled. “Damn horse. Why do I get stuck with the rotten egg?”  
Levi glared down at her. “You don’t have the rotten egg. Why would a horse want to put up with a rider that doesn’t know what they’re doing? If I was your horse, I probably would have dumped you by now.”  
Kana glared up at him through her bangs. “Stop picking on me and just teach me!” She got up, lifting the saddle up and starting to heave it on the saddle blanket on the horses back, but this time, the mare wouldn’t even stand still long enough for her to get it on and the saddle and the blanket came off. Kana stomped her foot, getting more frustrated with each second. When she went to smack the horse, Levi put his hand on her head, causing her to stop.  
Her hair was still half in her face and he pulled it back as he commented, “You have so much damn hair. You couldn’t even see what you were doing.”  
“So what? It’s not like this stupid horse will even let me try to get the saddle on her back.” Kana was glaring at him, but more than anything, her cheeks were flushed with frustration.  
“Don’t call the horse stupid, stupid.” Levi told her, picking up the saddle blanket and saddle, easily tossing it up on the mare’s back.  
Kana wouldn’t even look at him. “Now you’re just gloating.”  
“Are you ready to pay attention and actually try?” He asked.  
“I have been trying!” She argued.  
Levi made her pick up the saddle again, but this time, to her surprise, he came up behind her and held her hands holding the saddle. She stopped seeing the saddle at all. She could feel his breathing on her shoulder and felt his body pressed against her back. For a moment, the weight of the saddle was gone entirely. For a single moment, she visualized herself turning her head and finding his lips and forgetting all about the dumb horse.  
What was she thinking!? This was her captain! She shouldn’t be thinking thoughts like that about her captain!  
“I’m not doing this for you.”  
The growl caught her off guard and she shook herself from her stupor. He moved her hands until the saddle was sitting all the way up on the horse’s withers instead of down on the back like she’d been. “That pocket under the pommel isn’t there for show. It holds the saddle up so it doesn’t slide around and pinch your horse. If you don’t put the saddle on right, you’re probably going to pinch and hurt the poor beast.”  
Kana blushed darkly and realized now why the mare wasn’t cooperating with her anymore. If someone was continuously hurting her, then she probably wouldn’t let them come back near her either.   
He helped her set the saddle down in place, but when they let go of the saddle, his hands didn’t leave hers. Not for a moment anyway. They slid up her arms, lingering on her skin. To her, it felt… like more than just a touch. She felt like she could feel something weighing on his mind and the thoughts were coming out through his fingertips. She could feel him press his face to the back of her head, burying it in her hair. She was too afraid to move, too afraid he’d stop touching her this way.  
Unfortunately, he pulled back. She turned back to face him, and she thought she saw pain in his eyes. He looked sad again, he like he usually did when he looked at her. She wanted to ask him why. Why had he paid special attention to her? Why did he care about her? Why did he act so reserved with her? He told her, “You have a lot more to go. You need to cinch up and get the bridle on. Then you need to beg the poor girl for forgiveness.”  
Kana laughed, putting the questions in the back of her mind. After talking her through everything else, he finally helped her up on the horse. He made a noise when her hair hit him in the face. He barked, “How are you even able to see when riding? Doesn’t that giant mop of hair get in the way?”  
She glared at him and shouted, “Do not compare my hair to a mop! Ass!” She pursed her lips. She had just called the Captain an ass. What was she thinking!?  
But there was a smirk on his lips. “You need to start wearing your hair up or you’re going to die, stupid.”  
“Don’t call me stupid!” She yelled as well. She grumbled, “Why are you acting like such a jerk today?”  
He glared at her. “Because I’m wasting my day helping you with something that first year rookies know. Now shut up and go ride around the pasture. Make sure that everything feels right.”  
With a couple under-her-breath protests, she kicked the mare into gear and went galloping across the pasture. Levi leaned against the doorway into the barn. His heart was racing. He’d find any excuse to spend the day with her. Any second was worth any extra effort. Being near her calmed him and always made him feel better. She always seemed to know just how to distract him from any stress or problem – whether or not she knew she did it. But today’s activity had caused a lot of contact between the two of them and he was running out of self-control. If it were up to him, he’d be right there in that saddle with her, but his arms would be around her frail body, his hands would be secure on her waist, keeping her from danger, and his lips would be –   
The horse stumbled and went straight to the ground, rolling over the top of Kana.  
He dropped the halter in his hand and ran straight out to her, her name unconsciously leaving his lips. Before he got to her, the mare rolled herself back over and lifted herself up, letting out a snort. She nuzzled Kana who was still in the grass.  
Levi knelt down and asked, worry thick in his voice, “Kana, are you alright?”  
She started to laugh. “We’re putting that stupid horse on a diet. Damn she’s heavy.”  
Levi let out a breath and shook his head. “You’re an idiot.” He stood up and held his hand down to her. “Can you stand? Anything broken?”  
“Nah, I’m in one piece.” She took his hand and pulled herself up to her feet, brushing the dust off of her. “She veered off the path I wanted her to go on, so I turned her back. Now I know that she saw that hole and I didn’t.” She gasped when the mare nudged her, causing her to stumble and fall against Levi.  
He instinctively caught her, his arms around her. His eyes widened when he felt like electricity ran through him. Her body was so warm and so soft and it made him tighten his hold on her. She looked up at him, the reddest blush on her cheeks and it made her look even cuter than usual. Her expression said she was waiting to get in trouble. He could barely breathe. He was on the verge of his own self-control. One little slip up and he –   
“…Levi?” She questioned. He stared at her, specifically at her lips. His name sounded better when it was her voice. It sounded right; like it belonged. He pulled her up and leaned down closer. He didn’t care. He couldn’t stop himself. Just one little mistake; just once, he wanted –   
“Heichou!!”  
They both looked over when Gunther and Erd came running across the pasture on their horses. Kana ripped away suddenly, her cheeks even darker with embarrassment and it made him gasp. His hands lingered where they were, but now there was nothing but emptiness between them. His arms felt cold and incomplete. It felt like part of him was missing. He’d lost his only chance to let himself mess up.  
He looked up at the panicking soldiers and asked, “What’s going on?”  
“There’s a handful of titans heading this way.” Erd explained. “There was one hanging out there in the forest and it spotted us. We were going to take it out, but its friends all came crawling out and headed this way. We were barely able to get out in front of them.”  
Gunther added, “We don’t have time to gear up. They’re just beyond those trees.”  
Kana shot up to her horse. “My horse is already ready. I’ll go distract them while you guys get your gear.”  
Levi’s eyes widened as she was already turning her horse and sprinting off. He screamed, “Kana stop!!!”  
Gunther quickly asked, “Sir, do you want us to go after her?”  
His teeth were gritted in rage and fear. “Dammit… yes!” He turned and ran back to the barn. As quickly as he could, he alerted Oluo and Petra, flew through gearing up, and then tacking his horse.

It wasn’t long before Kana saw the titans coming into view. She patted the side of her horses neck and whispered, “Come on, Ruby. Let’s make our squad proud.”  
At the sound of her name, the horse through her head up, let out a neigh, and charged full speed towards the titans. She was diving and weaving through the trees like she’d done it a million times before. To Kana’s surprise, she was going faster than ever. She was certainly going faster than any of the rest of the Levi Squad’s horses could go.  
They rushed up on the first titan. It reached out, trying to grab them, but Kana yanked on the reins, turning Ruby hard to the right. Mud splashed up over them, but they bolted to the side. This caught the attention of several of the titans and they all started running towards her instead of towards the castle.   
She rubbed Ruby’s shoulder, “Let’s lead them away!”

Levi caught up some time later to Gunther and Erd. He demanded, “Where are they?”  
Gunther stated, “They aren’t here. Kana must have led them well away from the castle.”  
Levi’s eyes narrowed and he noticed off to his right, there were a few broken trees. With a low growl, he jerked his horse in that direction, hoping that Kana hadn’t done something more stupid than she was already doing.

Kana was watching over her shoulders as the titans reached for her as they all ran. Ruby had been doing great, following her leads and avoiding most of the swings the monsters took. She could feel the great horse under her was breathing heavier and heavier. They couldn’t keep running like this forever. She yanked on the reins, turning Ruby to her left when another titan took a swing. The slid around a tree and she had just started to pick up speed again when Kana saw another titan was laying in wait.  
It suddenly threw it’s hand out, hitting dead on Ruby’s side, the horse went flying out from under her and Kana rolled across the ground. She sat up and looked over quickly, but her eyes widened at the horror before her.  
Ruby’s body was broken at the base of the tree she hit. The poor beast was bleeding, it’s body contorted at the wrong angle. To her relief, she saw that she wasn’t breathing any more. Then at least she wouldn’t have to leave her there to suffer until she died.  
But she had to think fast. The titans were all descending on her quickly. She shot to her feet and turned, going to run, but they were there too fast. A titan went to grab her and she ducked under it, but her loose hair lifted up, just enough that several locks were caught in its massive grip. She let out a scream of pain when her head was jerked to the side as the titan reeled her in and lifted her into the air.  
Her entire head felt like it was burning as she dangled from its grip. She kicked and punched, trying to get away but she was caught. She gritted her teeth as the titan lowered her to its mouth. It didn’t look like this titan was taking the time to smell her – to see that she was a Slayer, its mortal enemy. If she knew how to use her powers, she could fight herself out, but at this rate, she was –   
An arm came around her waist. Her eyes widened as she was pulled against a hard body in the same moment, she heard the whirl of a blade and she was free of the Titan’s hold. Crimson threads fell all around her as she was spun in the air, landing against the body on the ground. She barely had time to glance at Levi before they were both on their feet and running to his horse. He jumped on and then roughly jerked her up into the saddle with her.  
Before they knew it, they were leaving the titans in the dust.  
Shortly thereafter, they were easily wiped out by a fully armed Levi squad. No casualties.  
Except Ruby.

Kana sat on a bench in the hall, slumped against the wall. Across the way, she was staring into a mirror. Almost all the hair on the right side of her head was chopped off. Short strands splayed out wildly around the bandages covering where the skin on her scalp was slightly torn from the titans grasp. Her fingers numbly toyed with the jagged strands, but her mind was back in that forest, on Ruby’s broken body.  
She wondered if, in the end, the mare was proud to die for her master, or she was still a let down even until the end.   
She didn’t move, but her eyes went to the end of the hall when she saw Levi walking towards her. She didn’t say anything, just watched him walk up to her. He asked, “Are you doing okay?”  
Kana was slow to respond, “…Yeah…”  
He had his arms crossed and she saw his hands clench in response to her answer – or perhaps he was thinking something and it pissed him off. But he was still calm as he lectured her, “What you did was not only incredibly stupid, but it was dangerous. You could have been killed. You almost were.”  
“I got Ruby killed.” Was all she responded with. She went back to fiddling with her hair.  
He sighed and knelt down in front of her. “Even so. Despite that, you probably saved us from having more injuries or possible deaths. But you can’t just go off without getting your orders first. I know you think you can handle it, but I’m here to make the tough decisions. So deaths are my shoulders, not yours.”  
“Yeah, this one was all on me.” Kana whispered bitterly.  
“If you would have waited and listened to me, then it wouldn’t be.” Levi scolded, but his voice wasn’t as harsh as it usually was. But at the same time, it wasn’t like he was scolding a child who’d done wrong. It sounded more like… he was calming a lover. Her cheeks flushed. Where did she keep getting these strange ideas from?  
For the longest time, neither of them said anything. Kana just kept messing with the tiny crimson threads. Levi startled her by reaching up and brushing his hand through the shorter locks of hair. His fingers were so incredibly gentle that they could lull her to sleep. He whispered, “Sorry I took so much off. It was a split second decision, I couldn’t really take my time to not cut so close.”  
“It’s fine.” Kana whispered, her eyes focused now on his. “It’ll grow back.”  
“You can have Hanji even it up when we get back.” He suggested.  
“I don’t mind it.” Kana admitted. “It looks kind of cool. I might start a fashion trend.” She had meant to make a joke, but her voice remained so monotone, they both missed it. His thumb brushed over her cheek. She realized his hand had left her hair and was cupping the side of her face. Now she could feel that despite the gentleness of his touch, his hand was covered in calluses from years of fighting. They felt rough against her soft skin, but she welcomed the sensation. Wanted it, maybe even needed it. This hand on her skin was pulling her away from the nightmare of her own guilt.  
She rested her own hand atop his and it seemed to wake him up from a dream of his own. He stopped moving his fingers, like he was waiting for her to make the next move. She wasn’t sure what to do. Her brain was telling her to stop reading too far into everything. It told her that this was her captain and that he was trying to ease one of his soldiers so they wouldn’t do something dangerous again.  
But her heart was screaming at her. It was telling her that this man longed for her as much as she longed for him. That this touch was trying to tell her what he couldn’t say with words. That it was begging her to touch him back. She turned her head the slightest bit and gently kissed the palm of his hand, never breaking eye contact with him.  
His eyes widened just the slightest bit and she heard him swallow hard. Was he nervous? Was there something on his mind? Was he dying to say something to her just as she was to him? Or was he trying to do as was expected of him and tell her to stop acting so intimately with him?  
Her free hand moved of its own accord. She brushed the back of her fingers along his cheek before traveling to his lips. She traced the soft curve of flesh and he closed his eyes. She felt like they were having a conversation, but there weren’t any words. She felt like the two of them were on the same page, but the book they were in was thousands of miles from everyone else’s. She wasn’t sure if she should stop. When her thumb brushed his lips, he tipped his chin up and parted his lips. She felt her own breath catch this time.  
She wasn’t imagining this. He was there. He was real. And she knew that he felt something for her. He responded to her touch the same way she responded to his. She released his hand on her face and it surprised him, making him open his eyes. It was too late to stop herself. She’d made up her mind. She cupped his cheeks in her hands and leaned down. She didn’t give him a chance to react until her lips were just an inch from his. She paused there, so there was no misinterpretation – she was going to kiss him.  
She waited for him to stop her. To tell her she was an idiot. To scold her and tell her she was way out of line. His own hand caught the back of her neck. It sent shocks of pleasure through her body and he started to pull her the rest of the way in. She was so shocked that it made a soft breath leave her. Their lips were less than a millimeter from contact when a door opened up and Kana pulled back too suddenly for him to stop her.  
Erd smiled at them and asked Levi, “How’s she doing? She gonna be okay for tomorrow?”  
It took Levi a moment to get is thoughts straight. He stood to his feet, crossing his arms again as he answered, “Yes. She’s recovering very nicely. She’ll be fine. But she stays in the middle of the formation. An unruly child needs to be supervised.”  
Erd laughed at that and to Kana, said, “We’ll have a new horse for you tomorrow, so don’t stress about it. And don’t worry about your hair. I think it looks kinda cute like that.”  
Kana blushed, watching Erd walk on down the hall. Once he was out of sight, she looked back at Levi. She went to complain about him calling her a child when she saw something foreign in his eyes. But it was easy to identify. There was a strong sense of possessiveness there as he looked down at her. He brushed his hand once more along the side of her face and he ordered, “Go get some rest, Kana. You deserve it.”  
She smiled weakly and whispered, “Yes Heichou.”

Kana stared at her reflection in the water. She had screwed up so badly then. She was still screwing up now. Her hands clenched into fists and tears raced down her face. She wanted to scream. Her whole reason for fighting was gone. Her arms trembled. She wanted to be mad at something else. She wanted to blame someone else.   
For a moment, she thought of blaming Levi again. To accuse him of letting her down. But the second the thought started to form, it was gone the next. He was too important to her and it only made her heart ache more. They shouldn’t even be involved. He was much older than her and he was her Captain. She was sure Erwin knew, but if the Military Brigade caught wind of it, it would cause more trouble for both of them.  
She fell back against the wall and her head collapsed to her knees. 

What was she supposed to do…? Did she even have a reason left to keep fighting? To live?


	72. Stone-Cold Girl (Mikasa)

Mikasa, Demi, and Leah were back inside of the walls. They had been given orders to retrieve more supplies. They were to be as discrete and quick as possible. The fewest amount of people to notice that they were back was the better. Mikasa had her red scarf pulled up over her nose and mouth. It was a rather brisk morning. She wished it could be a little warmer, but she didn’t have too much to complain about.  
She was carrying two bags of groceries while Leah was going through the list of what they needed. Demi kept looking around for stores that would most likely have what they needed. A couple times she suggested getting a bite to eat, but Leah sternly reminded her that they were to be fast.  
Mikasa frowned. She was getting pretty hungry, too.  
Everyone back at the cabin had gone pretty quiet since Demi had made mention of a Black Weapon. Even Mikasa was a little shaken up. If there was something out there even more frightening than the titans, then it felt like they really weren’t making any progress. In a century, their world could have adapted so that many things would be harder to not only hunt, but to survive along side of.  
How much of the outside world would have changed because of the titans?  
The three of them stopped when a couple younger boys ran by them. Mikasa noticed the double sword emblem on their backs and her eyes softened. It seemed like it was so long ago that they were all trainees.  
“It’s kind of morbid to see that and wonder how long they’ll live once they’re in the military.” Leah commented. “I wonder if they even know what they’re getting themselves into.”  
Demi looked at Leah curiously. “What are you talking about?”  
Mikasa looked at the dark brown haired girl. She stated, “I’d forgotten you were just thrown on the team without having to go through training first. You weren’t there the three years we were all in the training corps.”  
“You didn’t miss much. Keith Shardis was a total pain in all of our asses.” Leah explained. “No matter what you did it was wrong and you had to listen to him bitching a moaning the whoooolllleeeee time.” She laughed and made an exaggerated motion.  
“Still.” Demi stated, her eyes becoming a little sad. “I would have liked to have been there… and made friends.”  
Leah frowned at her. “You’re making friends now. Who cares if you were there or not?” She patted Demi’s back and asked, “Hey… is that what’s been bothering you? You don’t feel like one of the crew?”  
“Eren cares about you.” Mikasa stated plainly. “Therefore I accept you as well.”  
Demi blushed a bit and then quickly told them, “It’s not quite so black and white.”  
“Here, come tell us about it.” Leah pulled the two girls towards the café. “This is where the four of us used to spend all of our free time together.”  
Mikasa frowned. “Shouldn’t we hurry? We’re not supposed to be goofing off.”  
“So? This is important…” Leah assured.

Initiation was earlier that day. Which, of course, initiation consisted of Keith Shardis endlessly yelling at everyone for no apparent reason. In a way, Clay kind of got it. He was trying to intimidate all of them to make sure they had the balls to stand up to a real titan. Unfortunately, he thought the concept was a little overdone and had little significance. But he had to admit, it was funny to see Jean get headbutted and Connie picked up by the head.   
And then there was potato girl. He looked over his shoulder as the girl ran her fifth lap since he’d been outside. Her body was shaking and struggling with each step now, but more than anything, she looked pale and out of energy. Because she’d been eating that potato during initiation, Shardis had forbidden her from getting any food for the evening.  
She was the one he felt bad for. She was going to be feeling miserable by tomorrow morning.  
“He’s still got that potato girl running.”  
Clay looked over, seeing a crowd of trainnees in the entry way of one of the barracks. They were all leaning on the rail, watching the girl run around the campus. Clay leaned on the wall behind them and, in response to what Connie said, commented, “She’s been at it for five hours now.”  
“Still. The look on her face when he told her she had to run until she was almost dead wasn’t nearly as bad as the look on her face when he said she was going without dinner.” Marco commented.  
“Dauper…” Connie looked up as though he was thinking really hard. “If memory serves, that’s a hunting village with a small population deep in the mountains.”  
“I didn’t know villages like that still existed.” Marco replied.  
Clay had been pretty much ignoring the conversatioin when he noticed Eren and Mikasa walk up to join them.  
“Then again…” Marco continued. “I don’t really know what kind of villages any of you came from.”  
Clay noticed, after a moment, that their gazes had gone to him. He had been gazing at Mikasa. The sun was setting and with the gentle orange ring around her body, it looked to him like she was glowing. Her face was as solid as a stone, but to him, it was attractive. She held herself with such poise, she seemed to be undeterable. He turned to Marco and answered simply, “I’m just from a little village in the east. Pretty normal, lots of farming.”  
Mikasa watched as Clay brushed off the question. She would never admit it, but she had been curious about his background. He wasn’t like most of the guys, walking around all boisterous and trying to show off. He was quiet and kept to himself. But she noticed that his gaze was always hard. To her, it seemed like he’d seen nightmares much like she had and was trying to drown them out.  
She didn’t realize the attention had gone to her and Eren. But Eren answered them, “I’m from Zhiganshina, as is Mikasa. But after it was destroyed, we moved to a settlement where we stayed until we were 12.”  
“Really…?” Marco frowned but Connie jumped around him and asked, “Then you must have been there that day! So did you see it? The Colossal Titan!?”  
Disdainfully, Eren admitted, “Yeah…”  
Clay’s hands clenched at the mention of the Colossal Titan and his gaze drifted to the front of the mess hall. Reiner and Burtholdt were chatting, but, as always, Annie was no where near them, no where to be seen. They still weren’t getting along.

During dinner that night, everyone was surrounding Eren’s table, asking him questions about the titans. The ones actually sitting at the table were him, Armin, and Mikasa. At the table across from him, he saw that the girl with the weird blue-blonde hair was chatting with Reiner, Annie, and Burt. She seemed to be getting really friendly with the Armored Titan. Part of him wondered what she would do if she knew.  
From there his gaze drifted. Most people probably wouldn’t have caught it, but he saw Jean and Marco eating, but the horse-face’s gaze was constantly dancing across the mess hall and landing on Tsuki. Did they have a thing for each other? No, that gaze said that he had a serious problem with her. Had they gotten into an argument of some sort?  
In the very back of the dining hall, there were a couple tables that weren’t very occupied. One table housed the girl who’d spoken out against Shardis earlier that morning. The one with red hair, who’d they’d all been ordered to ignore. The other table had potato girl and the smallish girl with lavender hair. She looked fragile. Very fragile and he wondered how someone like her expected to get into the military.  
Surely she was just hoping to make it to the inner walls?  
“I told you, I saw it.” Eren told the crowd of recruits.  
“Really!? How big was it?” One person asked.  
Eren answered, “It cleared the wall.”  
Clay was watching them, but he noticed that Mikasa had glanced in his direction. Her gray eyes were as dead as ever, but he thought he may have seen curiosity or… interest in them. He felt his hopes soaring through the roof.  
“What!?” People yelled. “I heard it stepped over the wall!” “Me too!” “That’s what my village said!” “What did its face look like?”  
“It had a huge mouth, but hardly any skin.” Eren explained.  
“Then what about the Armored Titan that broke through Wall Maria?” Another person asked.   
“I saw that, too.” Eren confessed.  
Clay rolled his eyes. People could be so annoying. They acted like they were afraid of the titans, but then they were so interested and amazed by them. If any of these people stood before one, he knew half of them would freeze up. What if they learned they were sitting among titans the entire time? What would they think then?  
“I think the Armored Titan looked just like any other titan to me.” Eren explained.  
“Then what do regular titans look like?”  
Eren took a moment to recover himself when he suddenly choked on his food. His eyes were wide like he had just remembered something terrible. Marco straightened up and said, “Let’s knock it off, guys. There’s somethings that a person doesn’t want to remember.”  
Connie frowned, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to stir up painful memories.”  
After another moment, Eren went back to eating without reserve. He said, “That’s not it. The titans are no big deal. If we can master the 3-D maneuver gear, they’ll be no match for us. I’m done picking up stones and pulling weeds. I’m finally training to be a soldier. I was all choked up about it before. So I’m going to join the Survey Corps and rid the world of the titans. And then – “  
“What, are you out of your mind?”   
Eren, along with the whole group all looked over at Jean. He demanded, “Did you just say you were going to join the Survey Corps?”  
“Yeah. Why?” Eren asked, his eyes narrowing. Clay noticed that across the hall, Tsuki had turned and started glaring at Jean as well. Her hand was clenched into a fist and it looked like she was ready to fight the guy. To him, Tsuki had always been so bubbly and chipper, I was weird to see her aggravated.   
Eren’s eyes narrowed and he asked, “You’re the one that wants to join the Military Brigade and take it easy, right?”  
“I’m nothing if not honest. Better than the guy shaking in his boots but pretending to be brave.” Jean told him. “Though you are eloquent – “  
Eren shot up. “You’re talking about me?”  
“Ah, sorry.” Jean teased. “Honesty is a bad habit of mine. I didn’t mean to rile you up.”  
The two of them glared for several moments, but they let the conversation die. There was nothing more than a few mumurs among the trainees for most of the rest of dinner. But towards the end, he heard the red head in back retort to something, her tongue as sharp as it was that morning.  
Several trainees got up and joined her at the table. He couldn’t resist. He picked up his food and followed suit. It was an interesting crowd at the table and he felt that he’d gain the most by following this crowd. As he sat down, he noticed Mikasa looking at him again.

At the end of dinner, everyone was putting up their dishes after cleaning them. He stopped when he felt someone brush by him to put her plates away. He recognized the black hair. She looked up at him with a smirk and asked, “Looking for trouble?”  
“Hm?”  
“You joined that table of trouble makers.” Mikasa stated. “Like we did. You’re sure to get in a lot of trouble with Shardis if you tag along with us. I can tell we’re going to be giving him seizures.”  
“It seems like fun.” Clay admitted. “What’s the point in living if you don’t stir up a little trouble?” He smirked at her. “You and Eren are pretty close. Did you want to go to that table or did you just follow him?”  
Mikasa blushed a little and looked down. “I have to protect him. His family took me in when mine was killed. He saved me and his whole family treated me as one of their own. I owe them everything. But his father is missing and his mother was killed. So he’s all I have left of my own family.”  
“So he’s like a brother to you?” Clay asked. But his eyes were intense on her. He’d thought she looked familiar, but it wasn’t until she said her family was killed that he began to think more on it. He remembered helping a boy, when he was much younger, to kill some guys who’d kidnapped a girl after killing her family. It was just conincidence he was sure. But it was a pretty striking one.  
“He is.” Mikasa set her plate in the sink, blushing darkly when her hand brushed his. She pulled her hand quickly away and asked, “What about your family? Do they know you want to be a soldier?”  
Clay’s eyes grew dark and he whispered, “Yes. They’re aware. I don’t think they care much.”  
Mikasa touched his arm. “I’m sorry to hear that. These are the people we’ll be fighting along side of. In a way, they’re kind of a like a second family. Or a first, for those who have nothing left. You can see in their eyes. Those who have nothing and those who have everything to lose still.”  
“Like Jean?” Clay suggested. “That guy clearly doesn’t have an idea what it’s like to lose anything. If he did, he wouldn’t open his mouth so much.”  
“Yes. Or those that spend every day mourning their losses.” Mikasa added. “That girl with lavender hair. Until today, I hadn’t even heard her speak. But I can see in her eyes just how sad she is. She saw something terrible in her life.”  
“Everyone responds to tragedy very differently. But I was surprised by what I saw in this group.” Clay informed. “I think all of them have a good chance of living.”  
Mikasa dried off her hands and told him. “Make sure you do the same, Clay.”  
As she walked out of the mess hall, he couldn’t help admiring the sweep of black hair. It was so beautiful as it danced down her back. It was like staring into the darkest of night, but the reflection of light was like the touch of the stars sweeping along like a galaxy. For a moment, he was lost in the beauty of it and his gaze softened.

The next morning, all of the trainees were gathering outside of their barracks. He had his hands on his hips, stretching out in his uniform. Since it was new, it was starchy and hard to move in. He had just pulled his arm around to stretch his arm when he noticed the girls were finally making their way out.  
His eyes widened when he saw that half of Mikasa’s obsidian hair was gone. Tsuki and Leah were on either side of her, exchanging giggles. He ran up to them, his eyes wide. He realized how awkward he must have been and quickly cleared his throat. “You… cut your hair.”  
Mikasa was fiddling with the end strands. “Eren said he thought it would get caught in the gear… so he told me to cut it.”  
Clay frowned. “Did you want to cut it?”  
She looked away and her cheeks were the softest flush of color. He couldn’t resist how well it offset her usually dark look and made her look so brilliantly beautiful. She whispered, “I just did cause Eren told me to…”  
Clay gritted his teeth but Tsuki chimed in. “She told us to do our best. I think Leah and I made her look really cute. We kept this one long lock of hair that went over her nose… I just think it’s so adorable, I didn’t have the heart to take it away. But Leah trimmed up the back of her hair. I know Eren doesn’t give a damn, but what do you think, Clay?”  
Tsuki’s eyes challenged him. It was as though those eyes knew exactly how he thought about Mikasa. He sighed and gave the black haired girl a warm smile. “I think it looks beautiful. I don’t mind it either way.”  
This brought an almost smile to the stone cold girl’s lips. He enjoyed that just a simple few words from him brought about such a reaction. He would be happy if he could always make her smile that way. Maybe even more if he could.  
Shardis shouted for all of them to line up and before they could do any protesting, all of the trainees were scrambling around, getting in line. Once or twice, his shoulder brushed Mikasa’s and he was overcome by a sense of hopefulness and security. That girl had a way of making him think positively and smile.   
Things were much less stressful with her.

“So you guys ate here all the time?” Demi asked, staring at the small cups of coffee in front of them.  
Leah was already anxiously sipping at hers and told the Slayer, “Yeah. We became the Trinity+1 back when we were in the trainee corps. It was going to be our squad name when we got awesome enough.”  
Demi frowned. “I disrupted that, huh?”  
“A lot of things ruined Trinity+1, not you.” Leah explained. “Like Clay taking off with the Titans and Kana resigning from the Survey Corps.”  
“But Clay is a Titan. That makes him a bad guy, doesn’t it?” Demi asked. “He helped them.”  
“But he also helped us. I don’t think – “ Leah started.  
“Clay is not one of them!” Mikasa shouted. She had no reasonable explination for the sudden, overwhelming fury that boiled up inside of her, but she couldn’t stand anyone thinking poorly of someone she loved so dearly. “He has a plan! Whatever he’s doing, he’s doing for us!” She started to go further on her screaming rant, but Leah put her hand on her’s and immediately her lips pursed.  
Leah calmly told her, “I think you’re right. You don’t have to defend Clay to me. He was one of my best friends – still is. Even though we seem to have fallen apart, we’re still a team. My faith in him will probably die along with me. Even if he had betrayed us, I can’t help but think of everything we all went through together. Clay is important to all of us.”  
Demi’s gaze grew distant. It must be so nice to have such close friends and to –  
Leah grabbed Demi’s hand which made her look up at the Lavender haired girl. She felt like she was awashed in a sense of tranquility she had never felt before. And when she spoke, she believed her words without a doubt.  
“Everyone on the team is important. We’re all a team now. We will always have each other’s backs and we will never betray each other. Got it?”  
Demi nodded her head. “I will do my best. I won’t let you guys down, okay? I swear.”  
Leah gave her a bright smile. “There we go. That’s what I’m talking about.”  
Mikasa went to sip at her coffee when she noticed that Leah’s gaze had gone over her shoulder. They all followed her eyes.  
On the other side of the window, a woman with crimson hair and a long black cloak was talking with a Military Brigade officer. In her hand was a black mask with two short devil horns on the top. It looked like the officer was giving her orders. He walked on by and when the girl turned, Leah felt sick to her stomach.  
Kana was wearing a Military Brigade Uniform underneath the cloak. Majority of her face was hidden as she placed the mask over it, but there was no mistaking the half of her that Leah had seen. She shot to her feet. “Why is Kana – “  
Before she could even do anything, Demi was out the door, chasing after the girl in black. Upon seeing Demi, Kana ran, putting a good amount of distance on her before Demi was even out the door.  
Leah and Mikasa were still standing there in shock. Just what was going on?


	73. Division (Armin)

The sky was darkening but no matter how far Mikasa and Leah ran, there was no sign of Demi anywhere. Leah, panting, slowed to a stop and told Mikasa, “Hold up, we’re not getting anywhere just running around like this.” She leaned against the wall and told her. “We’re way late already and the captain is going to be furious. For all we know, they’ve already headed back to the cabin, or Demi is with her somewhere talking. But running around town in senseless.”  
Mikasa frowned. “We can’t afford to lose another member of our crew.” She told Leah, but she was just as tired as she was. They needed to get back one way or another. If the two hadn’t returned, they’d bring more members of the squad to hunt them back down.

Armin was staring out the window. It was late and it was so dark that they couldn’t even see the trees outside the cabin. It was a new moon so there was no light to guide their way. Armin frowned, “What could be taking them so long? You don’t think they ran into trouble do you?”  
“They’re the top of the squad.” Tsuki stated. “I know for a fact a couple titans didn’t get a hold of them, so what else could have happened?”  
Eren clenched his hand into a fist. If Demi was hurt… His thoughts stopped when he saw Armin trembling against the window. His younger friend was already on the verge of tears. He put his hand on his head and said, “Don’t worry. They just got delayed. Leah is fine, I promise.”  
Armin frowned at Eren and whispered, “This is always happening. Whenever I’m not with her, she gets hurt… I’m never there to help her…”  
“We don’t even know that she’s hurt.” Eren told him. “They probably got caught up in some girl talk or something.”  
Tsuki pursed her lips. “Or… maybe they went to go talk to Kana.” She had been putting up the dinner for the evening and looked at them over her shoulder. “If I had gone, that’s what I would have been doing.”  
“That’s why you didn’t go.” Levi snapped, glaring up from the papers he’d been reading. “I gave them specific orders to leave her be. She made the decision to resign. Now all of you have your own missions to focus on and stop worrying about her.”  
Tsuki slammed her fist on the counter. “I’m sick of hearing that! How can you be so cold!? That’s our best friend! She and Clay were an important part of our team! We fought and trained side by side for three years! We faced our first titans together! I refuse to believe that Kana just decided to quit the Survey Corps with no provocation! Why can’t you tell us anything!? We need Kana’s help to learn our Slayer abilities because Demi doesn’t have her memories and can’t help us! Right now, Leah and I are just dead weight without proper training – “  
“No. You’re just like everyone else on the squad. You have unique skills with or without your Slayer powers.” Levi calmly told her. “If Demi is unable to help you train any further then you’ll just the rest of the squad in the daily training.”  
Tsuki gritted her teeth. “What could be so important that no one will even tell us why our crew has fallen apart? Don’t we at least deserve to know since we’re sacrificing our lives?”  
Levi’s hand clenched on the paper in his hand and he started to say something when the door opened.  
Leah huffed as she stumbled in through the door. Mikasa brushed off her coat before pulling it off her shoulders. Leah told them, “Sorry we’re late guys.”  
Armin threw his arms around Leah and let out a relieved shout, “Thank goodness you’re okay. What took you guys so long?”  
Leah went to answer when Eren cut them off, “Hey… where is Demi?”  
Leah’s eyes widened and she looked at him seriously. “She… isn’t back yet?”  
“No…” Eren rushed forward and grabbed her arms. “Why isn’t she with you?”  
Levi glared at them and growled, “You were given orders not to split up. Where did you last see her?”  
Leah put her hands up and Armin moved between the frantic Eren and worried Leah. Leah looked down, scuffing her shoe on the floor. “We didn’t mean to. We were… we…”  
Mikasa calmly explained. “We were trying to cheer Demi up. So we stopped at the café. We had just gotten there when we saw Kana. She was wearing wearing a Military Brigade uniform. Before we could stop her, Demi ran out. We tried chasing after them, but we couldn’t find them. We assumed that they already came back.”  
Tsuki was staring in shock at them. Kana was in a military uniform? Then… she’d really abandoned them? But why? Tsuki shook her head. “That’s nonsense. You must have mistaken her for someone else.”  
“No. It was her.” Leah explained. “And the second Demi saw her… the look in her eyes… She was so mad.” She rubbed her arms. “Sorry we couldn’t bring them back.” Looking at Levi, she asked, “What should we do?”  
Eren was already yanking on his boots and shouting, “I’m going back. I’m going to find Demi. For all we know she tried to head back and ran into some titans or something.”  
Levi snapped, “Eren, you’re under specific orders to remain here. You are not to leave this cabin.”  
“I’m going after Demi! I won’t leave her alone out there!” He was already pushing towards the door, but Mikasa grabbed him and dragged him back.  
She scolded him. “Eren, do not be reckless! Stay here. If need be, I will return for her, but you must stay here!”  
Eren gritted his teeth. “How do I know you won’t come back without her?”  
Mikasa gaped at the accusation in his voice. She felt taken aback, but Tsukiko was already heading out around them. “No one’s coming back without Demi because I’m going.”  
“Tsuki!” Jean shouted. “Wait for – “  
“I won’t lose another member of my team!” Tsuki screamed at them. All of them silenced at her shout. “I have no idea what’s going on with anyone. And since our battle with Reiner and Burt, our team has completely fallen apart! At the tower, we were unstoppable! We were fighting so well! And then at the wall before we lost Eren. Our team was truly undefeatable! But now… we’re all stranded and constantly fighting. I’m sick of it! So I’m going to get some answers! I’ll go find Demi and bring her back and ask Kana why she’s suddenly turned her back on us.”  
She started to storm out the door.  
“Stop!”  
Tsuki froze at the order. She gritted her teeth. She knew that she was a Slayer and it was unreasonable, but Levi was her superior and she’d consistently been speaking out against him. She tensed up, suddenly afraid that she’d be kicked off the team or something. She looked back over her shoulder. “Wh-What?”  
“There’s no reason for you to go.” Levi growled, pulling her back inside the cabin. He yanked on his poncho and snapped at them. “I’ll go report to Erwin and retrieve Demi on my way. Meanwhile the rest of you need to get your acts together and stop acting like a bunch of brats. This place had better be spotless by the time I get back.”  
“Okay…” Tsuki mumbled.  
A roll of thunder made all of them look outside. There was a flicker of lightning enough to light the area up for a moment and then followed by the pouring of rain. Levi cursed under his breath and slammed the door behind him.  
Eren looked down, his hands still shaking. Now it was storming and he had no idea where Demi could be. He couldn’t stand that he wasn’t out there looking for her. Jean for the first time, sympathized for the bastard. He looked away and put his hand on Eren’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He said, “Calm down. She’ll be fine. She’s a Slayer, remember?”  
“Yeah but… now she’s alone.”  
Jean sighed. “Let’s just focus on getting things cleaned up. Then I think we should all sit around and chat. I think we all need to get some things off our chests.”

Leah sat up and groaned. “This is the third time I’ve cleaned this floor just this week alone.”  
“That’s it?” Tsuki asked. “Then we should probably be cleaning it more.”  
Jean rolled his eyes. “This is a ridiculous amount of cleaning…”  
“It gets us cooperating I suppose…” Tsuki mumbled.  
Armin walked into the living room where Leah had been cleaning. He started to step on the floor when she shot over and caught his foot. “Don’t! I just scrubbed that spot.”  
Armin laughed and stepped back. “Sorry. Do you guys need any help out here? I just finished cleaning the curtains… again.”  
Tsuki shook her head. “I’m just polishing the silverware. I’m good.”  
Jean was sitting at the table, hunched over the window sill that had been broken out of the window. He was doing his best to get it glued back together. “I’m just fixing this… I might need an extra hand later getting it back up.”  
Leah pulled Armin down. “Help me scrub the floor, but dust yourself off first.”  
Armin laughed as he leaned down to help her.

Leah was sitting at the front of the class room. She really didn’t like this teacher. He was so boring and his voice was so monotone that it always lulled her to sleep. She rested her cheek on her hand as he rambled about the workings of the maneuver gear and how to use it to its fullest potential. Somewhere in class she had started to doze off. But she was woken up by a touch on her shoulder.  
Armin smiled down at her. “Nice nap?”  
Leah frowned and lifted her head. “Not… really… is class over already?”  
When Armin nodded, she started collecting up her books. He watched her, a soft smile on his lips as he realized how cute she looked with her hair frayed everywhere. She yawned and rubbed her eyes and then shook her head as though trying to wake herself up. He casually asked, “You ready for the test tomorrow.”  
Leah’s eyes widened. “Test? What test?”  
Armin frowned. “The test we have to take to be able to start practicing with our gear. You have to pass it in order to take to the field.”  
“Wh-what happens if I don’t pass?” Leah asked, her eyes fluttering with panic.  
Armin didn’t want to scare her so he just frowned. But this still freaked her out cause she started ripping books out of her backpack and going through everything. He caught her hands and told her, “Easy, don’t panic. I’ll help you.”  
Leah stared at him in shock. “Y-You will?” She let out a huge breath and whispered. “Thank you… is there anything I can do to repay you?”  
“No, no.” Armin assured her. “I’m just happy to help.”  
The two of them went to the mess hall and grabbed some food before going to the entry way of one of the barracks. Armin pulled out a ton of books. He started with the most recent chapters that they had gone over and started reading at a slow pace, gaging her reactions to see what she did or didn’t understand. After only half an hour, she was flustered and scribbling on her paper.  
“Armin, I appreciate the help but I just don’t get this technical stuff…” Leah sighed and rested her chin on her arms. “Isn’t there some way I can still pass without being super smart?”  
“You are super smart.” Armin argued. “You really helped me out a lot the other day. You judged the situation quickly and accurately and acted accordingly, without getting either of us in trouble. I don’t know a lot of people that can do that.”  
“But I’m talking about book smart!” To emphasize her point, Leah shoved the book in his face.  
Armin gave her a warm smile and lowered the book. “So am I. Here, let me try explaining it another way.” He spent extra time going over the points she was struggling the most with and tried relating the information to things she would know in real life. He quickly found out that she struggled to relate a lot of things.  
“Okay, how about this! Did you ever help your mom cook dinner?” Armin asked, looking at her hopefully. “Or cookies?”  
Leah glanced at him and then looked down at her feet. She felt the tears starting in her eyes. “I don’t even remember my parents. For all I know, I don’t have a mom.”  
Armin frowned. He tried to cheer her up, “Leah, it’s physically impossible for you to not have a mom. Everyone has a mom.”  
“The only family I remember is my sister.”  
“And where is she?”  
“Dead… I think…” Leah looked down. “I just want to join the stupid Survey Corps so I can find her body. I want to give her a proper burial.”  
Armin looked back at his book. He didn’t want to make things even worse for her and tell her that most likely anything that was left of her sister would most likely have decayed by then. Instead, he lied, “Well, in order to go out and look for her, you gotta pass this test. I’m not going to let you fail.”  
Leah had rolled onto her back and was staring up at the orange sky. “I wish I had a family. I know everyone is close here… but I… I wanna know what it was like to have someone tuck me in and wish me goodnight… or… someone to hope the best for my future.” Her eyes started watering. “I wanted the warmth and security of a family. I’m tired of always feeling like I’m alone…” She started to go on when she was suddenly pulled up.  
Armin wrapped his arms securely around her waist and pressed his face to her shoulder. “You’re not alone, Leah! You’re never alone. I know it’s not the same, but the soldiers here, we’ll be your family. We’ll do whatever we can to make you feel at peace. We’ll help protect you…”  
Leah rested her hands on his and sniffled. “Promise…? Armin… I’m scared… I don’t want to die.” She turned to him, her eyes were round and full of pain. “I’m so scared that I’m going to die out there and never find my sister…”  
Armin looked away. He couldn’t promise her she or anyone else wouldn’t die. It was higher than the probability of them living. He bit his lip and looked away. He didn’t want her cying anymore though. “One step at a time.” He told her. He set the book back in her lap, his arms around her hips as he pointed to the lines. “Let’s get you to pass your test….”  
Several hours passed and night had long since drifted in. Leah was still sitting in his lap, anxious going through the pages. She had been listening more intently to him the last hour or so and when he asked questions now, it seemed like she was understand them now. The last several of her answers had all been correct.  
They reached the last page of the chapter and Leah threw her arms up. “That’s it?”  
“That’s it.” Armin assured her. “You got them all right. You’re going to ace that test tomorrow.”  
Leah squealed and jumped in his hold. “I can do it!” She climbed away from him and quickly started gathering up her books. “Now we better get back before someone sees us out so late and we get in trouble.” Armin helped her and once everything was gathered up, he escorted her back to the girls barracks.  
She leaned on his shoulder, a big smile on her lips. “Thanks so much for helping me, Armin…” She yawned, her eyes growing heavy. “I would never have had any hope for passing if it wasn’t for you…”  
Armin opened the door for her and helped her inside. He noticed that most of the other girls were all already asleep. He walked her to her bed, gently laying her down. She was already all but asleep in his hold. Cupping the back of her head, he gently let her down, watching as her head fell into the cushion of the pillow. After slipping off her shoes, he pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. She automatically curled up, making a soft noise as she did.  
He couldn’t stop himself from gently brushing her hair from her face and kissing the crown of her head, whispering, “Goodnight, Leah…”

The next morning, Armin, Mikasa, and Eren were standing outside. Eren had barely passed his test and was breathing heavy. He had been so worried about it, but didn’t tell anyone. He looked over, seeing Leah waving Tsuki and Kana off. She trotted up to him and held up her paper that had a 87 written on it.  
Armin’s eyes brightened. “That’s amazing Leah! You did great!”  
“It’s all thanks to you!” She leaned up, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek. “Thank you so much! I won’t forget this.” She glanced shyly at Mikasa and Eren before running back to her friends.  
Eren gave Armin a look and grinned, “So… looks like you’ve got yourself a secret admirer. You didn’t tell us you were putting the moves on a girl.”  
Armin’s face turned a dark crimson. “It’s not like that! She needed help with homework so I helped her out!”  
Even Mikasa had to pitch in. “Then why did she kiss you on the cheek?”  
“It was a thank you kiss!” Armin argued.  
Eren wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “If you’re so sure that’s all it was.”


	74. In too Deep (Tsukiko)

Tsukiko kicked off her boots and let out a sigh. Leaning back on the bed she yawned and complained, “My feet hurt so bad.”  
Krista was pulling off her socks from her top bunk. “I think it was a little unnecessary for Mr. Shardis to make us run all those extra laps…”  
Ymir glared at Sasha and hissed, “If someone would stop taking all of the food from the dining hall, we wouldn’t all pay for it.”  
“They were just going to waste it!” Sasha shouted angrily.  
Ymir’s eyes narrowed and she wrapped her arm around Sasha and hissed, “Then let them, you stupid girl. Instead we had to run five extra miles because you wanted an extra bread roll.”  
“I got another potato, too.” Sasha pulled it out of her jacket and held it up, but Ymir smacked it out of her hand.   
“That’s not the point, you dumb fuck!” Ymir screamed in her face.  
Leah leaned down from her top bunk. Her lavender hair fell down over her head and she almost headbutted Tsukiko. She smiled, “There’s not enough showers for us to all take one tonight. Some of us gotta wait.”  
“Or we can go clean up at the lake behind the cabins. No one ever goes down there.” Ymir grinned devilishly at Krista.  
Her eyes widened and the little golden haired girl shook her head. “Y-You don’t mean all of us together, do you? Wh-what if someone comes looking for us?”  
“Someone can stand guard.” Ymir stated. “And switch off.”  
Tsuki shook her head with a frown. “That’s no good. Then someone still gets left out and has to wait.”  
Leah’s lips curled into a smile. “We could set a trap. So that if someone crosses a line, it will let us know and we can get out of there.”  
Mikasa looked up at Leah. “We’d have to set a wire around the entire water hole. And then we need to plan an escape route.”  
Leah looked at the dark haired girl and asked, “Wanna help me set it up?”  
Mikasa nodded. “Sure.” Leah flipped down off her top bunk and told the other girls, “We’ll come back and get you when it’s ready, okay?”  
Everyone agreed and after they walked out, Tsuki looked at the little red-head that hadn’t said a word. She asked, “Are you joining us, Kana-chan?”  
She could see Kana turn her head, but she had so much hair that it was hard to see her face or her expression. “I suppose. If we’re caught, do you think they’ll kick us out?”  
Tsuki couldn’t help laughing. “Why are you worried about it? I think they’ll punish us but they won’t kick us out. They need all the soldiers they can get.”  
“Okay.” Kana agreed.  
Tsuki frowned at the girls bland reaction. Besides her outburst with Shardis, she hadn’t spoken much. In fact, since that night, she’d been surprisingly compliant.  
Ymir patted Krista’s head. “We better watch out though. If the boys see what we’re up too, I bet they’ll come running to get a peak at your little naked body, Krista.”  
The little girl’s cheeks exploded in dark red and she shouted, “Don’t say things like that!”  
Ymir laughed, wrapping her arms around her. She looked at Tsuki and added, “You be careful too. I’ve seen you and Reiner and your little flirting. No man would turn down a chance to get a good look at a bunch of girls taking a bath.”  
Tsuki giggled and wiggled, “Do you really think he would try to peek? That’s so dirty!” Tsuki laughed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I know Mikasa and Leah will set that wire up well. No boys are gonna see us tonight.” She looked at Ymir and asked, “If they did though, Ymir, who would you want spying on you?”  
Ymir shook her head. “None, thank you. The guys here are pathetic.” She glaned at Kana. “What about you, Red-head?”  
Kana didn’t even react to Ymir addressing her. She was gathering up clothes and towels to take with her. Tsuki frowned. “I’m guessing she’s not into the dating game.” To the other girls, she giggled, “But I know that Leah has been hitting it off with Armin a lot recently. I’ve seen them walking to and from class together.” She looked at Sasha and the other girls. “What about you guys?”  
For a while they all gossiped until Mikasa and Leah came back and told them they were clear to go. Gathering up their stuff they made their way down the path behind the cabins and into the forest.

Jean and Marco were walking back from the dining hall when they noticed the tail end of the group of girls walking into the forest. Marco frowned and asked, “Where are all of them going?”  
Reiner walked up behind them, his face straight, but determined. “They’re taking a bunch of clothes with them. It can only mean one thing. They’re going to bathe together.”  
Both of them started blushing darkly. Jean gritted his teeth when his thoughts went straight to Tsuki, wondering what her body looked like without the uniform in the way. He shook his head quickly and earned a knowing look from his best friend.  
Connie threw his fist up and shouted, “Whose up for a little peeping?”  
Marco gasped and shouted at him, “What’s wrong with you!?”  
Jean paused. He wanted to be the good guy and say it was wrong, but he couldn’t get the luscious images out of his head. He told them, “Besides, they’ve probably got someone guarding or something to keep us from being able to get close enough.”  
Reiner mumbled, “If we follow their path and then hide, they’d never know.”  
“No guys.” Marco snapped. “No. We’re not – “  
“It’s weird seeing a group of gossipy guys.” Clay stated, walking up. “What are you guys doing?”  
Reiner suddenly wrapped his burly arm around Clay and covered his mouth, dragging him along with them as they prodded Marco, following after the girls.

Tsuki’s eyes brightened when she saw the sparkling pool of water. It wasn’t huge – like lake size or anything like that, but it was nicer than a pond. She squealed and ran straight to the water’s edge and dipped her hands in. “Oh its so nice! It’s cool on this hot day!”  
“Perfect!” Ymir hollered and tossed her towl in the grass and slipped out of her clothes. She ran straight into the water until her head slipped under the surface. Krista let out a worried shriek until she resurfaced and spit water out. “Oh you’re right, Tsukiko! The water feels damn amazing! Hurry up you pussies!”  
Krista was dancing in place, a dark blush on her cheeks. “We-We’re not all gonna… “ As she spoke, Sasha went running by her, stark nude and jumped into the water hole. Krista gasped when she was totally drenched in water.   
Sasha let out a squeal of happiness, looking over at Mikasa who was already in the water up to her nose. She glared at the shrieking potato girl.  
Tsuki worked her way out of her clothes, looking over at Kana who stared at the water, unsure of whether to go in or not. Tsuki giggled and patted her back, “Come on, you’ll be fine. Leah and Mikasa set up wires so we’ll know when someone comes by.”  
Kana looked at the water. “You’re sure we won’t get in trouble?”  
Tsuki frowned. “Why are you suddenly so concerned on if you’ll get in a little bit of trouble or not? You weren’t bothered by any of the extra running or going without food, so…?”  
“Look out!”  
Tsuki looked over as Leah barreled through and pushed both of them over into the water. Leah was already out of her clothes and summer saulted on into the water. Kana glared at the girl and Tsuki shouted at her, “Why didn’t you wait until we were undressed yet!?”  
“You two were yip-yapping too much!” Leah laughed.  
One by one, the rest of them undressed and slipped into the water. Ymir, in the end, had to all but strip Krista herself and throw her in the water. Alas, they were all washing up and enjoying the feel of the cool water. Tsuki leaned against one of the rocks and let out a heavy sigh of happiness. Her mind danced between what Ymir had said about the boys. Her cheeks flushed at the thought of Reiner peeping on her, but there was another thought playing in her mind.  
She kept thinking about Jean. She crossed her arms over her chest. Why was he the one on her mind when it came to her being naked and someone seeing her? She blushed darkly at herself. It was obviously because she knew he’d make her feel so uncomfortable!   
Wouldn’t he…?  
Tsuki looked over as Leah dog-paddled around in the water. When she got close to Tsuki, she kicked water up in her direction, splashing her in the face. Tsuki let out a playful snarl and swam after her. “Get back here you little shrimp!”  
Leah laughed, quickly swimming away. “No don’t hurt me! I’m fragile!”

The guys had followed the path the girls went down for most of the way, veering only when they saw the trip wires that had been set. Reiner put a finger to his lips, signaling all of them to be quiet as he carefully stepped over the wire. All of the other boys followed suit.  
Marco kept cursing under his breath. “You guys are so shameless… so shameless.”  
Jean shushed him. “If you don’t hush, I’m going to tie my jacket around your face and shut you up myself.”  
Marco glared at him like he should know better.  
Reiner and Connie led the boys on closer to the water hole, pausing when they heard the sounds of splashing water and giggling. They ducked into the bushes, seeing first the blonde hair of Annie and then the smaller golden haired girl, Krista. They were at the far edge of the water hole, avoiding the other girls. He noticed Ymir stand up and scoot over to Krista, telling her to join the fun.  
But at the same time, Reiner and Jean had looked across the water when they heard Tsuki shout. Her fine, tanned, soft body reached up out of the water, a squirming, naked Leah in her hands. She dropped back down almost immediately and ducked the littler girl under the water.  
Jean’s eyes widened and his cheeks turned so dark. His breath left his chest. She was so damn beautiful. Her face was so soft and full of joy and amusement, but her body was strong and still slender. She was perfect. But when she let go of Leah and started laughing, he felt like his heart stopped entirely. He had never seen something so magical in his life.  
Water traced down her body and he found himself swallowing hard. This was a bad idea. How mad would those girls be if they saw them here like this?  
Marco hissed to Jean. “Okay, you saw. Can we go now?”  
Reiner chuckled at the two guys. “Who were you looking for, Jean?”   
Jean’s cheeks darkened even more and he shook his head. “N-No one. I was just toying along with your little plan.”  
Clay was glaring at all of them. “I can’t believe you perverts…” But his gaze was at the black haired one sitting not too far from Kana and Sasha. Mikasa was still completely submerged in the water, but unlike several of the other girls, she didn’t look pleased. She just looked like she was doing something she forced to do.  
Connie gave him a skeptical look. “Oh come on. We all see you eyeing one of them.” He chuckled as he stood up. “I’m going to sneak a closer look…” He started through the brush when Annie quickly looked in their direction, hearing the noise.  
Ymir looked at Annie when she quickly looked over and asked, “What’s up blondie #3? Hear something? It’s probably just animals you know.”  
Annie frowned and mumbled, “I know. It surprised me.” Her gaze narrowed though, when she was sure that she heard whispers. “But… I find it strange. Last I checked, I didn’t think that animals spoke language.”  
Ymir narrowed her eyes. “Is someone over there?”  
Annie stood up, covering herself up and picking up one of the rocks from the shore. She threw it hard, listening to a gasp of pain. Her eyes widened and she started to get out of the water when Ymir shouted, “You fuckin’ peepers! Get the fuck out of here! Who the hell is there!?”  
There was suddenly a lot of scrambling around and the girls all looked over, glaring at the bushes.  
Tsuki let Leah go and shrieked, “Someone got passed the trap!?” She looked over, seeing that Mikasa was already back in her clothes and running towards the other shore. Tsuki grumbled and made her way back, wrapping a towel around herself. The other girls were all climbing out and covering themselves while grabbing their clothes.  
They hurried back, but the whole crowd of them was stopped at the mouth of the path. In front of them was an enraged Shardis. His arms were crossed and he snarled. “I was wondering where all of my trainies went. All of the girls as well as most of the boys were missing out of their cabins. And I find them all here… just what are you doing?”  
The girls all gaped, fear in their eyes.  
There was more noise from behind them as a group of guys ran up, chased by Mikasa. They all stared, shock in their eyes as well.  
Shardis glared at them, too. “Perfect timing, boys. How are you…?”  
Reiner gaped. “Uhh…”  
Tsuki looked back, seeing him, but her gaze went to Jean. Her cheeks darkened when she realized he was looking right at her as well. She turned quickly back, her eyes wide with panic.  
What was wrong with her?

The next day, Tsuki was stuck cleaning sheets for all of the beds in the cabins. They had gone through a huge lecture the next day about showing proper discipline. It seemed like they were making regular visits with the superiors and getting punished. She sighed. Their rations were being cut for the week and they were getting extra chores on top of their usual duties and regiments. It wasn’t too bad at least.  
She looked over when she heard someone walking up and narrowed her eyes at Jean. “What’s up, peeping tom?”  
Jean blushed darkly and looked away. “I-It wasn’t my idea.”  
“And that makes it okay?”  
“N-No… but…” Jean sighed and sat down. “I’m sorry, okay? Want some help?”  
“No I don’t. What’s your duty? Shouldn’t you attend to it?” Tsuki snapped.  
“It was cleaning the bathrooms. Done already.” Jean leaned back on his hands. “You’re not going to forgive me, are you?”  
“I haven’t even forgiven Reiner. So why should I forgive you?” She growled, trying to lean up and clip another of the sheets on the wire. She couldn’t quite reach and she gritted her teeth in anger. Her eyes widened when she felt his body press up against her back and reach above her, clipping the sheet easily up on the wire. She remained still. She could feel his chest against her shoulders and his abs through her thin top flex against her back. His muscles felt so good.  
She heard a noise and realized he’d asked her a question.  
She glared at him over her shoulder, “Wh-what?”  
There was amusement in his features as he asked, “Are you sure you don’t need help?”  
Tsuki pushed him back and snapped, “I’m fine, I don’t need you to – “ She gasped when she had pushed him back and he stumbled into the tub of water. His hand had clenched on her sleeve and she toppled into the water tub with him.  
Tsuki’s eyes widened when they pulled their heads up and she stared down at him. The water had made his uniform white top stick to his body, conforming to every inch of raw muscle he had on him. His expression was twisted of embarrassment and shock, but his gaze went down her body. Her light blue top was soaking went and sticking to her the same way. He could see where patches of skin showed through, including her darker blue bra.  
Tsuki panted, her eyes widened as she tried to control her breathing. A drop of water ran from her hair, down along the side of her face and off her chin. Jean watched it until it landed on his already soaking shirt. Her hair was going wild with the frizz of the water and he couldn’t help but think of how beautiful it made her look. Even drenched in water, her spirits didn’t dampen. He swallowed hard as his gaze kept going back to her chest. It was just inches from his stomach and he could see every detail of her bra.  
“S-Sorry, Tsukiko…” Jean mumbled, but he noticed her leaning in closer.   
Her wet cheek pressed to his and her breath tickled his ear as she whispered, “You did that on purpose didn’t you, Jean? Peeping yesterday wasn’t enough for you? You wanted to get me wet again, didn’t you?”  
His cheeks darkened. He hadn’t meant to, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. Her body was alluring to him and he couldn’t resist it. He casually reached his hand up, touching her side, but she pulled back, giving him a coy smile. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Jean?” Tsuki asked.  
Jean’s breathing was catching in his throat and he wasn’t sure what to say. “I-I’m not sure, honestly. A-A lot of things…” As Tsuki’s hands rested on his chest to hold herself up, he added, “B-But more than anything… I… I really want to kiss you…”  
Tsuki looked up into his eyes. Those pools were swirling with emotion and she could see her own reflecting in his. Her hands moved up from his chest and cupped either side of his face. With her thumbs brushing his cheek bones, she tipped her head and kissed him deeply. She closed her eyes as she felt an unfamiliar feeling surge through her. She felt like the sweetest water raced through her veins, drowning her in passion and desire.  
Her heart started racing the more she kissed him and his arms tightened around her. His lips were rough and stumbled through the kiss. She could tell that, like her, he had never kissed anyone before. Even though she and Reiner had started dating recently, so recently they hadn’t told anyone, she hadn’t kissed him. Her feelings for him, too, were strong, but she was too afraid to kiss him. Too afraid to lose him.  
But with Jean, there was something more raw, more passionate. With him, she suddenly couldn’t think of anything but kissing him. He pulled away for a brief moment to breath, but his lips quickly crashed back on hers. He gripped the back of her uniform, the kiss growing a little deeper than it did before. She could feel how his lips trembled, with fear of what they were doing. She felt his hot breath slipping past her lips every time their lips shifted. She felt a warmth spreading through her body, matching the desire that made her hands twitch on his cheeks.   
Her hand slid back, gripping the locks of hair. She felt wild with this foreign feeling. This feeling that she had never felt from Reiner. It was pure want. She joked with Reiner and toyed with him but she had never been attracted to him the way she was to this man. How was he doing this to her after harassing her so much.  
His hand squeezed her hip gently and she let out a noise, parting her lips into the kiss. His tongue brushed her bottom lip and she felt her heart racing. She pulled back just an inch, panting against his lips as her eyes were glazed over. She whispered, “Jean… we have to calm down.”  
He glanced away, embarrassed that he’d gotten so carried away. “I’m sorry. But you’re just… so…”  
“What?” Tsuki asked. “Hot? Sexy?” She prattled a few of the other shallow compliments she’d heard from Reiner.  
“Beautiful…” Jean whispered. “I-I’ve thought so for a while…”  
Tsuki stared at him in shock. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. But she pulled back quickly. She had just recently started dating Reiner and couldn’t think of any way of explaining this to him or anyone else. She rubbed her wet hair free of the ponytail. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. C-Can we just forget about this…? Please…” The last thing she wanted to do was spread a reputation among the trainies.  
Jean looked down, the flush of color still on his cheeks. “Y-Yeah…”  
“I’ll finish the sheets myself…” Tsuki whispered, draining the tub of now dirty water and refilling it. “But thanks for the help.”  
Jean’s hands clenched into fists as he turned and walked away. Obviously, Tsuki had made her choice of who she wanted to be with. But the taste of her lips on his still lingered. It pleasantly haunted him every night and every day. He wanted to feel them again. Desperately wanted to feel them again.  
But how could he expected a girl to choose someone like him over a strong and nice guy like Reiner?


	75. True Fear

The storm was raging. The wind blew, creating a whistling sound through the plastic that covered the broken window. Eren’s gaze never left the dark, ominous night. Jean was sitting on the couch in front of the lit fire place. The oranges and reds were the only lights. They flickered and bounced wildly in the reflections of all their worried gazes. He looked over at Tsukiko who was curled up, her forehead on her arms. He reached over and softly stroked her cheek. It felt like a punch to his gut to see her hurting so badly. Even though they’d only started dating a few months ago, he had been in love with her for a long time. And the moment he started feeling that way, he realized that he hurt any time she did. He wanted to take that pain away.  
Leah and Armin were sitting closer to the fire. For the longest time, they had all been silent. They were the new Special Operations Squad – the new Levi squad – and from day one all they had done was bicker and argue. And now that things seemed to really be falling apart, nothing remained but silence and tension. Leah gripped her sleeves tightly. She felt like this was all her fault. Her and Mikasa’s failure to stop Demi from chasing Kana and their further failure to find them and bring them back had caused a total break down of their crew. Now three members of their squad were nowhere to be found and their captain was out in the storm trying to piece things back together.  
“I’m sorry guys.” Leah whispered. “This is all my fault.”  
Armin’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “Leah, don’t blame yourself, we – “  
“Why the hell would you think it was okay to come back without her!?” Eren shouted. “None of you understand what Demi is going through and you don’t even try! Instead you just ditch her and hope she returns.”  
Armin glared at his best friend. “Don’t yell at her! She thought Demi had come back. It’s not her fault. So don’t just – “  
“I wouldn’t have left you!” Eren shouted. “If we were on a battle field and you took off, I wouldn’t have gone back to camp! I would have chased after you!”  
“Eren! You’re being irrational!” Armin protested.  
“Is that what caring is!?”   
Jean glared at the boy and ordered, “Will you knock it off? Eren, Demi isn’t the only one struggling with their own problems. We’ve all got a chip on our shoulders and its eating away at us. Why don’t we… talk for a while? Not yell and argue, just say what’s on our minds?”  
Eren hesitated. His emerald eyes fixed on Jean as though challenging the boy’s suggestion. For some reason, the thought of following an order from Jean pissed him off. The same coward who’d wanted to join the military police was now, as a member of the Survey Corps, trying to boss him around in the Corporal’s place. In his mind, he was telling Jean to fuck off, but he reluctantly sat down among the other soldiers.  
Mikasa glanced at him, surprised that he had willingly followed along with Jean. He’d expected him to have a massive outburst. Since when had he started growing up?  
“So what?” Eren asked. “You’re telling me you’ve got a problem? What is it?”  
“Well, you’re the main one.” Jean told him. This won a smirk out of both of the stubborn boys. He leaned his elbows on his knees and his forehead aginst his hands. “But to be completely honest, my biggest issue right now is that I’m completely terrified. It might be completely irrational but five people that we all trained with became titans. You, Ymir, Burt, Annie, and Reiner. And so far… at least half of you, for some reason, are trying to kill off humanity. And I have no idea why. Why would they want to help the titans? Burt and Reiner said they wanted to return to their village. And they were willing to kill all of us and take you with them to do that. What was so special about their village? And why do you make the difference, Eren? Annie was after the same thing. That’s why so many people died on our first expedition. She was trying to catch you and take you somewhere.  
But now, all of our best chances to get any information and learn what’s going on are gone. Not a single one of them paid for any of the lives they took or the betrayals they left behind. But more than anything, I feel like I’m constantly tensing up, waiting for the next friend to stand up and say ‘oh hey, I’m a titan too’ and try to kill us. I’m sick of it, but I can’t help it. Five people in the 104th training corps alone. How many do you think are hidden and waiting to rise up? That have been pretending to be one of us all along?”  
Tsuki lifted her head a bit, staring at Jean in shock. She’d had no idea that he’d been feeling like this. Then again, he was closer with the other trainees than she was. She hadn’t established the kind of connection that all the rest of them had.  
“And on top of that…” Jean’s hands clenched. “At least one of them was responsible for the death of my best friend. Burt destroyed the gate into Trost that led to all of us fighting for our lives. One more day and Marco would have been in the Military Brigade and safe from harm. But… no one even knows how he died. No one saw him… The last thing he did… he saved my life. The last time I saw him… he threw himself in front of a titan so that I could get new gear and escape.” His hands were shaking down, with the intensity of his grip. “I should be the one who’s dead! Not him! He was better than that! He didn’t deserve to die alone like that!”  
Tsukiko wrapped her arms around Jean as he started shaking with sobs. She pulled him quickly in to her arms and cooed to him. She felt his tears running down her neck. She felt sick to her stomach. How had she not noticed that he was carrying this much weight inside of him. But of course he did. Marco was his best friend. And he died without reason or cause. Tsukiko nuzzled her face into Jean’s hair and whimpered. “I’m so sorry, Jean…”  
Eren looked down, starting to feel a little guilty. He rubbed his head and mumbled, “And I hadn’t even known he died until well after Trost. I’m sorry, Jean. I feel terrible…”  
“Not as terrible as I do.” Jean stated, finding Tsukiko’s hand and squeezing it softly. “I joined the Survey Corps… to honor him and to protect those that were still alive.” His gaze was focused on Tsuki and it made her blush. He determinedly said, “So no matter how scared I am, I will keep pushing forward. I will stay positive. We will survive and we will defeat the titans.”  
Everyone in the group nodded their heads. Jean turned to his white haired beauty and softly whispered, “Do you want to confess next, Tsuki?”  
Tsuki shifted her feet. “I’m scared of…” She swallowed hard. “I’m scared of being alone again. Since I could always remember, I was alone. I have no memory of any family – mother, father, siblings – nothing. Someone had to have taken care of me though, but I don’t know who. I don’t remember. It didn’t bother me back then. But after meeting all of you in the training corps… I realized… how important friendship was. I was so happy. We all had a great thing going. And now… now that all of it is falling apart, I’m afraid of feeling alone again. I want everyone to be together and be happy. I want us to all get along. I wonder… I wonder if Clay, Kana, and Demi are feeling lonely.   
“There are things in this world that we shouldn’t have to face alone.” Tsuki clenched her hands tightly and then glared at them. “I-I get it. I get that Kana joined the Survey Corps originally to protect her siblings. But… just like Demi told me a few weeks ago – that had no impact on what she did fighting along side of us. She cared about and protected us. And why… why would Erwin just dismiss her? Did he not see how strong she was? How helpful she was to all of us!? Why – “  
“There must be something else.” Armin stated, making all of them look at him. “Commander Erwin isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t just push out a soldier as strong as Kana unless there was some other reason he wanted her out of the Survey Corps. Face it. This is the first time any of us have really talked like this. We don’t know much at all about each other; where we grew up, how we lived, our real feelings. Maybe Kana did something we don’t know about?”  
Tsuki shook her head. “No. You didn’t see what I did.”  
Now the attention was on the sea-color and white haired girl. Tsuki looked up slowly, tears in her eyes. “None of you understand… what I saw… how many times I watched my friends die over and over. And when I thought it was done, I had to watch it again. I hate my power…! It wouldn’t let me just move on…” Tsuki gritted her teeth. “It wouldn’t let me move. Kana and Demi knew what was happening the second or third time, though. I watched them… after that. They were saving everyone. I watched them die over and over. I watched all of you die in so many different ways. I watched that battle unfold so many different times… At least fifty. So… whatever it is Kana did or whatever reason they have to just throw her out… it isn’t worth everything she did. That’s why I want to know! She was my first friend…  
…and friends don’t abandon each other…” Tsuki put her head back down in her arms again and started crying.  
Jean quickly scooted over to her side and pulled her against his chest in the same way she had done for him. She too had been feeling a misery that she wasn’t letting anyone else in on. He wanted to help her and make her feel better as she had done for him. He pulled her into his lap, keeping his arms around her. Immediately Tsuki seemed to fall limp, tucking herself against him. She felt suddenly calmed and assured.  
She wouldn’t be alone again, as long as she had him. He wouldn’t betray her like Reiner had. Because he was every bit as scared as the rest of them. Jean’s words were soft as he whispered against her hair, “None of us have abandonded you, nor will we ever. You don’t have to worry about that… okay?”  
Tsuki nodded slowly. But it wasn’t assured. Possibly appeased, but the fear was still there in her sea-green orbs. Tsukiko let herself relax in his strong hold, but her mind was drifting backwards. She couldn’t help wondering what had happened to her parents. Why was she alone? Why did her memories only go back to a certain point and then dissolve into blackness? She gritted her teeth. Had she lot her memory like Demi had?  
No. Her memory was there. She could feel it; it was just out of her reach. She could feel a warm hand caress her cheek and softly scold her. She felt the presence of someone who cared, who spoke kindly to her.  
She remembered her tiny little hand happily tugging on a long lock of bright red hair that glowed a warm orange around the edges in the reflection of the sun.  
“I wonder…” Tsuki whispered out loud. “…what happened to my parents…”

The rain was pouring hard. Hard enough that Levi struggled to see as he pressed his horse onward towards the walls. It was hard for the horse to run as fast as it needed to. The stallion kept slipping every few steps and it made it harder for Levi to even stay situated in the saddle.  
He fucking hated storms…  
He hated them since that day. That damned day when he lost everything.  
The slope through the forest became rocky and the hooves of the beast slid around before it dropped to its knees and Levi flipped over the front of the horses head, landing in the mud. He glared back at his horse as it stood slowly back up and snorted. He scoffed and grabbed the reins, walking along side of the animal now.  
Perhaps Erwin was right. He usually was, after all.

“What’s your real reason in inviting her into the Survey Corps?” Erwin sat back in his desk chair. The sun was high in the sky behind him, which made it that much harder for Levi to meet his eyes. So instead he looked away.  
“I told you. Her skills are exceptional. You’ve seen her in training. She’ll be valuable to – “ Levi started to justify.  
“ – It has nothing to do with the fact that she looks like that woman?” Erwin stated. When Levi’s eyes widened, Erwin asked, “You think I didn’t notice? Or that I’d forgotten? Six years isn’t that long, Levi. You don’t honestly believe that is her, do you?”  
Levi pursed his lips and remained still. He couldn’t justify his own answer to that question. He wasn’t sure his own feelings on the matter. But Erwin sighed heavily and leaned forward. “I understand your desire to cling to it, but Levi, the past is over. We can’t hope to stop the titans if we don’t keep looking forward. She isn’t coming back Levi.” When Levi opened his mouth, Erwin quickly added, “Even if that was her, she doesn’t even recognize you.”  
Levi’s hands clenched into fists. Erwin could say whatever he wanted, but he had dedicated his life to fighting titans and traveling with the Survey Corps in hopes of finding her again. Whatever else came of it, it didn’t matter. As long as he found her in the end. And he was convinced that woman was her.  
Erwin shrugged. “I see that nothing I say will deter you. I won’t waste any more time. But just keep in mind, as a soldier of the Survey Corps, chances are she won’t last long. Most soldiers don’t. You should know that better than anyone. I recommend not developing personal feelings for her.”  
Levi narrowed his eyes. It always seemed to him that the Commander got a sick satisfaction out of reminding him of his fuck up. He didn’t need it. He was reminded of it every day. He turned, quickly leaving the office. His hand touched the metal circle under his cravat as he walked.  
He wouldn’t give up hope. That hope kept him fighting.

Levi angrily kicked a rock when he tripped over it.  
Stupid. Fucking. Storms.

Demi stood in the rain, panting as she tried to focus in on the darkness around her. She couldn’t see anything. The rain was so cold on her skin and the cloud covered the only light that could have shown her the way. Loneliness consumed her. The same loneliness she had always felt. When she met Eren, she thought that feeling had started to go away, but here it was. It was back again and all consuming. She wanted to go back. She didn’t know where to, but she wanted to go.  
She dropped to her knees. The rain was washing rivets into the ground and it looks like a thousand little streams were racing through the mud under her. She had never caught up to Kana. She hadn’t even gotten close. Now, there was no telling where Mikasa and Leah were, if they were even around. It was well into the night and the wind was picking up. The howling sound of it drowned out her sobs until she didn’t even know what was her tears and what was the rain.  
Those people said they were her friends, but she didn’t feel anything from them. They were just people…  
Demi’s eyes widened.  
She saw a figment in her vision. A shadow looming closer. The rain didn’t part for this person. No, it looked like a faded image that the rain was reflecting on. It was a short woman with a warm smile on her lips. But Demi couldn’t make out any features. However, seeing this faded person brought strength to her weakened body and she was suddenly filled with hope.  
More images appeared around her. Was this a memory she had lost? Was she desperately reaching into her dark hell to find something to hold on to? One by one, three people formed around her. The smallest girl was wearing a tiara on her head. Her eyes were wide and bright, filled to the brim with curiosity and happiness. The second Demi saw her, she recognized Leah Canis as a child. But how? She had never seen a baby Leah before. Right beside her, a girl was jumping up and down. Her sea blue and white hair was bouncing in the rain, but being caught by the wind as though the water didn’t phase it. She could never forget the bright, determined gaze of Tsuki Urube. On her last side, a tiny, frail, and sick looking girl sat with her knees curled up. Despite the glowing red hair, this person looked broken and defeated. Not at all the Kana Silrause she knew.  
Before her, sat her own tiny body. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a bun on top of her head and little streaks of green fell down around her ears. Little Demi raised her hand. “Why are we here?”  
The woman before them knelt down. Her voice was kind as she explained, “I know you don’t understand it now. But you will; all of you. One day. This isn’t fair to you, and I know that… but… Things don't just happen in this world of arising and passing away. We don't live in some kind of crazy, accidental universe. Things happen according to certain laws, laws of nature. Laws such as the law of karma, which teaches us that as a certain seed gets planted, so will that fruit be.”  
Little Demi gasped and asked, “Does that mean I’m a fruit?”  
“It’s better than being a rose.” Tiny Kana snapped beside her friend.  
Demi stared at the scene before her. Her younger self stated, “You’re not a rose! You’re a people!”  
Little Kana turned and screamed at her. “I’m not anything! I’m not a person! I’m not nothing! I’m a waste of space – “  
“Enough.” The older woman snapped.  
Demi looked between them and asked, “What does she mean?”  
A heavy sigh escaped the woman as she dropped down. It was the greatest showing of her age by far. Just how old was she? Demi couldn’t tell from the minimal opacity of her body through the rain. Kana mumbled, “My name is cursed. Mom told me… that our family was given the name “Silrause” which is the name a flower that only Slayers can touch. In our old tongue, it meant “Silk Rose”. The roses grow very rarely and stored energy for thousands of years. When they store enough, they finally bloom with pure crimson petals, just like normal roses. After they’re plucked, they don’t die. They live eternally, but they turn black with contamination. Slayers used to pick these roses and give them to their weapons to give them more power. They picked too many and they stopped growing. They ran out of energy. Only when that happens, do they die. But they wouldn’t have died if they weren’t being used.”  
Demi’s eyes were wide with awe. “I want one!”  
“You can’t have it! They’re all dead!” Kana yelled at her.  
But Demi wrapped her arms around Kana’s shoulder and said, “But you’re not.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and Demi could see a soft but pained expression on the womans face. The scene disappeared into the storm before her like the memory was broken. It filled her with unmistakable warmth and joy, but she was also overcome with a sense of dread.  
They had all known each other as kids. As Slayers, they were not only part of the same village, but close childhood friends.  
Had they all… lost their memory?  
How…?  
Why?  
Just… what happened to their village?


	76. System Restore

Kana sat on the rooftop of her home. She didn’t want to be inside any longer because it was too quiet. The absence of her siblings had tormented her for days until she finally decided to leave. But she didn’t have anywhere to go. So she spent each day just sitting on the roof and staring at the city.  
Mizuki rolled off of her skin and reformed beside her. Immediately the child was drenched and she asked Kana, “Why are you sitting up here all by yourself? You’ve just been moping for days. Let’s go kill some titans. That will make you feel better. Right?”  
Kana’s eyes were dead. She ran her hand through the short strands of her hair and said, “Why should I fight them? I’m a failure.”  
Mizuki gasped and asked, “Why do you say that!? How are you a failure?”  
“Everything I did was for them. I fought to rid this world of titans, so they could grow up happily. So they would be free from terror. But… I couldn’t even protect them. I couldn’t save three small children from the horror of dying by those giant fucking freaks…!”  
“Well go inside and mope. It’s wet out out here.” Mizuki ordered.  
“I don’t care.”  
“I do. Please?”  
“I like the rain. It calms me. It’s the only thing with the power to stop a wildfire.”  
Mizuki sighed and sat down the same way Kana was, with her elbows on her knees and staring out at the gray that seemed to fall upon the city. It was early morning and usually the town would be bustling with people getting ready to set up shop or going to work. But today, the town seemed unmoving. It was like the walls were trapped in a warp of timelessness.  
She looked up at Kana. She was a weapon, but her user had lost the will to fight. So what good was she now? Without a Slayer to change her and swing her around and kill people, she had nothing to live for. Mizuki asked, “Are you saying you want to die, Kana?”  
She didn’t look at the younger girl. The sound of the rain filled the silence between them. Mizuki looked down. “If you don’t want to live, then I’ll die, too. I’m your weapon and our souls are bound.”  
“Don’t be stupid. I’m not going to go kill myself.” Kana growled. “I just… feel lost right now. I don’t know what to do with my life.”  
“Keep doing what you were. Your siblings aren’t the only children out there in need of protection. There’s tons of people who still rely on your strength. Tsuki and Leah need you to train them so they can fight. And all of you, together with the Survey Corps, are needed by humanity to fight the titans. To keep living. You’re being selfish by only thinking about your siblings. They weren’t the only reason you were fighting. I mean… when you were on the battlefield, what were you thinking about?”  
Kana felt her body stiffen. When she was fighting the titans, she never once thought of the kids back home. Her mind had always gone to her friends. Where were they? Were they safe? Did they need her help? Could she protect them? But more than anyone else, her mind had always been on her captain. He was always the first to throw himself into danger and protect his comrades. He was on her mind more than anyone else when they were fighting. But it wasn’t just worry. She looked up to him. She admired his strength. He had suffered such a loss, once, finding his entire squad dead before his eyes and kept fighting. She didn’t have that strength.  
Her heart stopped.  
If she ever found all of her friends dead; piles of corpses lining a battlefield drenched in blood. She suddenly found herself, in her mind, walking slowly across the broken ground. One by one, she saw the mangled bodies of her friends, torn apart and destroyed.  
She couldn’t take it anymore. She felt her heart racing and her stomach knotted up in pain. She hit the ground, her eyes wide in horror. Seeing her captain on the ground before her was more than she could take.  
Kana shook her head, gripping her hair and screamed into the rain. Mizuki reached up and tried pulling her hands away. “K-Kana!? I’m sorry! Are you okay?”  
Tears were racing down her cheeks and she shook her head. “What am I doing? What if something happened to them because I fell apart like a damn coward!? Why am I sitting here!?” She grabbed Mizuki and pulled her into her arms. She jumped off the roof of her home and ran down the street. She had spent weeks trying to console herself for failing.  
But while she was sitting around moping, she was failing at protecting those she still cared about. Those who she could still protect. But she was done letting them down. No more sitting on her ass. She ran down the street, with a Mizuki in her arms, throwing her hands up and screaming happily.  
Kana slowed to a stop, panting when she stopped in front of the hospital. She saw Erwin walking out, with a soldier following him, holding an umbrella up over her head. Kana gritted her teeth and marched up to him. A surprised Erwin asked, “Kana? What are you doing here?”  
“Give me my uniform back, Commander!” Kana yelled at him. “I won’t quit the Survey Corps!”  
Erwin stared at her for several minutes and he asked, “You’re saying it doesn’t matter that your family is gone? You still want to fight? For personal reasons?”  
“They weren’t the only ones I wanted to protect.” Kana stated, her voice hoarse. “I won’t give up just because I messed up. There’s more people that need me and are relying on me. I don’t give a damn what your problem with me is. But I will fight alongside my captain and my squad.”  
Erwin watched her for a long moment before he nodded his head. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”  
Kana’s eyes widened. “What?”  
“I broke the news to you as harshly as I could so I could see how you would react to total loss.” Erwin explained. “Headstrong and selfish soldiers don’t belong in my ranks. I need soldiers who will keep fighting on no matter what they see before them.”  
Kana looked away, but stayed silent. She knew she couldn’t promise that. Just imagining her squad, dead on the battlefield was breaking her apart inside. If it came to a time in which she failed to protect someone special to her again, she wasn’t sure she could keep fighting. She would probably break.  
But she would mend, and return.  
Erwin nodded his head head and told the soldier beside him. “You can have the rest of the evening off.” He took the umbrella. To Kana he ordered, “I’ll walk you to HQ to fetch your uniform.”  
Kana gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to be any closer to the Commander than she needed to be, but she didn’t say anything. Her gaze took in the stub of his arm on his right side. It was obvious that his motives weren’t selfish. He could have easily died in that attack, but it didn’t stop him. He had charged in, literally risking his own life along side of his soldiers. But what she couldn’t stand was that he was willing to risk those lives.  
That’s why she would never want to be a commander. She could never shoulder that burden. After a while, Erwin stated, “To be honest. I don’t trust you.”  
Kana laughed out loud. “Good. Because I don’t trust you either.”  
Even Erwin chuckled at this. “Then it sounds like we understand each other well.” He sighed as they walked through the rain. “But you and that child are the strongest weapon we have. So I – “  
“You’re wrong.” Kana stated. “Of the Slayers we know about, Mizuki and I are the weakest. When the others understand their powers and use them, you’ll see. You’ll see just how strong they really are. For some reason, Demi isn’t using all of her strength. But I saw it when we first met.”

After the longest time, Demi finally pulled herself up. She was covered in mud and so confused. Bit by bit, her memory was coming back, but it seemed like it wasn’t anything she really wanted to know. Her family, her home, none of those things. But this new knowledge of her childhood friendship with the other slayers had her mind spinning.  
She started walking, when she heard the clomping of a horses hooves. She looked up, flinching when she saw Captain Levi glaring at her. He snapped, “What the hell are you doing, wandering around in this rain? You were given specific orders not to split up and not to confront Kana. Now the entire squad is bickering and you’ve had them all worried.”  
Demi stared at him as though he were speaking another language. “What…?”  
Levi glared at her and held the reins out to her. “Take the damn horse and get back. You can apologize and explain yourself to them.”  
Demi numbly took the reins and watched as Levi stormed off through the rein. The horse was worn out and breathing heavily. How long had they been looking for her? Demi looked up at the sky through the rain. She hadn’t even noticed the darkness of the night had turned to the gray of morning.  
She turned the horse around and trotted off towards the cabin. The squad had been worried about her? Demi thought back to seeing her younger self hugging Kana and a pain stung her heart. They had all been friends back then. Somewhere deep in her heart… she felt that maybe those feelings still subconsciously lingered.  
If she told them…What would they say?  
Her grip tightened on the reins. Would her friends believe her? Or even care?

Levi was angrily stomping towards HQ. He had run through the storm all damn night to find out the brat was just sitting there. But it seemed as though she hadn’t gotten anywhere with Kana. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he felt a bit of disappointed deep in his gut.  
He looked up as he neared HQ, but dead-stopped and stared. Kana and Erwin were standing there, talking. She had her Survey Corps uniform back on and was pulling her poncho over her shoulders. Even in the gray mist and the gloomy scenery, her crimson eyes glowed with an intensity unmatched by anything else.  
When Erwin noticed the shorter captain walking up, he chuckled and said, “Perfect timing, Levi. You’ll be taking Kana back with you.”  
Levi looked between them expectantly.  
Erwin sighed, looking up at the sky as the gentle rain continued to fall. “She persisted that she wanted to keep fighting with the Survey Corps and would whether I allowd it or not. If she insists on fighting, so be it.”  
Kana jumped down the stairs and glared back up with him. She bit back the comments she wanted to make. Like the fact that she would protect humanity, despite her commander being an asshole. Humanity needed their slayers at their strongest. She needed to train Tsuki and Leah. So they could fight the titans and win.   
Levi stared at Kana for several minutes. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this. Despite him being the one to invite her int the Survey Corps, he had felt a relief when she left them to remain safely within the walls. And now she was joining them again. Putting her life on the line once more. He gritted his teeth and looked away, but he caught Erwins skeptical gaze.  
The commander saw right through him. But he turned and headed for the stables. He didn’t have anything more he felt the need to share with the commander. He looked back, only to be sure that Kana was following him. He was pleased to see that she did.  
She fell in step and looked up at him. “Has Demi been helping Leah and Tsuki?”  
“As much as she can.” Levi answered. “She informed us that she’s actually missing chunks of her memory. She doesn’t remember how she learned to use her powers, so she wasn’t every helpful. I came back because she apparently went running after you. They said they saw you wearing the Military Brigade uniform yesterday. Which is obviously untrue.”  
Kana shook her head. “Yeah. I was at home all day yesterday. And I never put on their uniform.”  
“I didn’t think so.”  
When they got to the stables, Kana started to pull her horse out of the stall when Levi gave her a strange look. He asked, “Are you going to be able to tack it up yourself?”  
Kana blushed and glared back at him. “Of course I can! I’m not useless!”  
Levi glared right back and grumbled. “It was just a question, stupid.” He went back to his own horse, but when he heard her doing the same, he looked back at her.   
She hadn’t changed at all.  
He started to reach to her, to touch her hair, but he gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand. That wasn’t how they were. Things could never be like that with them. Despite his slip ups, he had to convince and remind himself not to get carried away. He’d learned the hard way to not get his hopes up.

MIkasa walked up to Eren where he stood, staring desperately out the window. She felt bad. Demi and the captain hadn’t returned that night. And it was well into the morning and there was still no sign of them. She opened her mouth to say something to him when he gasped. He ran around her and threw open the door.  
Everyone else who was sitting around, watched the anxious boy run out the door. After a moment, realization blind-sided all of them and they ran out the door.  
Demi had barely gotten her horse to a stop when Eren pulled her quickly down and into his arms. He held her tight for a long time, while the rest of the group sighed in relief. Eren pulled back, cupping the back of her head and looked into her eyes. “Don’t do that… please don’t… I thought… I thought you weren’t coming back…” He gripped her shirt a little tight. “I lost my mother… I watched my squads die… I don’t want to lose anyone else… so please don’t… do reckless things…”  
Demi’s gaze softened and she whispered, “I’m sorry Eren. I didn’t mean to upset you… Or worry you… I – “  
“You worried all of us…” Tsuki stated. “If we’re going to do something stupid, then we all need to do it together. Okay?”  
Leah let out a sad scream. “I’m so sorry! Mikasa and I should have stayed out there, looking for you! I’m so sorry we went back! We’ll never go back home without you again!”  
The images that Demi had seen, flashed back through her head. “Friends stick together. Right?”  
“You got it!” Tsuki stated. She wanted to hug her friend, but Eren was hogging her so she put her hands up instead. “No matter how hard you try, you’re not getting rid of us.”  
“Damn. Then that puts a chink in my plan.”  
Tsuki’s eyes widened.  
Everyone looked over, gasps leaving their lips. Tsuki was the last one to turn and look, seeing Kana swing off her horse, the wings of freedom blazing on her back. Leah, Mikasa, and Demi were all wrong. There was no military patch on that uniform.  
No. She was forever a member of Trinity+1.  
And now they were all a part of the Special Operations Squad. Tsuki gritted her teeth and let out a shriek of happiness, tackling her friend over. Kana was the first friend she’d made. And they’d made countless promises to stick together. Having her bestie back was like having a piece of her soul reattached.   
Kana pushed her up and playfully hissed, “Would you get off me? What’s wrong with you?”  
Tsuki screamed at her, “What did I tell you before about being stupid, stupid!?”  
Kana’s gaze softened and she remembered Tsuki screaming about her being stupid when she had returned from Trost, too. She gave her a hug as Levi hopped down and grumbled, “Being stupid is what she’s always been good at.”  
Kana smirked a bit, assuming that he was talking about her act with the horses. But the look in his eyes said something much more. But she looked away and he snapped at the rest of the squad, “Since you’re all slacking off, I’m guessing the cabin is spotless, right?”  
They nodded quickly.  
Levi glared a moment longer before ordering. “Good then. You all seem to be acting better as well… I guess you’ve worked out your differences?” His gaze was pointed mostly in the direction of Eren and Jean. Both of them gulped and nodded even more.  
“Good then. All of you can rest for today. You deserve it.” With that, the captain walked on on inside.  
They all looked at each other as though they didn’t know what to do in response to his words. But Mikasa picked up the tumbleweed they had kicked around a couple weeks ago and asked, “Wanna play a game?”  
Immediately the boys started arguing again.  
But Demi’s gaze was focused in on Kana. She wasn’t wrong. She had seen Kana with her own eyes dressed in Military uniform. Something was going on and Kana wasn’t being honest with all of them. Was she working as a double agent? But why? The armies should all be focusing on the titans.  
Demi’s stomach knotted up and her intenstines felt like they were trying to devour themselves.  
Something bad was going to happen very soon.  
And she couldn’t help but feel that Kana was at the center of it.


	77. Crime

“There should have been plenty of time.” Levi growled as he swiped his hand under the table. The entire squad was sitting at the table. Even Hanji and her squad had shown up to discuss how things would continue. For protection purposes, Hanji’s squad had been watching over Historia in another location. But now both squads were here to talk. Levi sighed and wiped off his hand. “Well, whatever. We’ll return to the issue of your half-assed cleaning later. We’re going to review the sitation at hand and set some directions.”  
Eren had made a face and smacked his forehead when Levi complained about the poor cleaning job. He had warned all of them that they were doing good enough and here was their proof. Kana smiled. He was so nit picky about such things. But there were more important matters at hand. Very clearly more important if Levi was brushing over the poor cleaning job. He’d yelled at her so many times for not doing good enough at home.  
Levi spoke, his gaze mostly on Eren. “Well, a lot has happened during this short time, but our original objective has not changed. In other words, we’d do well to plug up the hole in Wall Maria. If that were to happen, then most other things wouldn’t matter. Even if the guy next to you were to turn into a titan. Even if a fur-covered titan were to come at you throwing rocks… or even if the inside of the walls were filled with titans.”  
Tsuki frowned. She didn’t disagree about Wall Maria needing to be plugged up, but she did think that most of those would still be an issue because of said ape titan. That monstrosity could climb the walls. And then all of those titans had appeared without there being a way to get in through Wall Rose. Something wasn’t adding up, but they could only deal with one problem at a time right now.  
Levi turned his attention to the blonde soldier beside Leah. “Oi, Armin. You were saying if things went well, the wall could be plugged up quickly. Tell us about that again.”  
Leah looked at the boy as he straightened up and explained, “Yes. The plan was to use the abilities of a titanized Eren to plug up the hole in the wall. The wall appears somehow to be made from the hardened bodies of titans, so if the mass of bodies necessary to plug the hole could be produces right at the scene. If such a thing were possible, then…” Armin’s gaze drifted downward as he continued. “There would be no need to contiuously transport in large amoungs of material by wagon like in previous plans. In other words, we could make plans to aim for the actual location, on a night where titans were inactive because of the weather or whatnot. If it’s just by horse, the road from Trost District to Zhiganshina District could be traversed in a single night. If these ideals could be realized… then the time needed for a plan to take back wall Maria… would be less than a day.”  
These words had both squads focused on Armin and hope glinted in their eyes. Kana’s eyes narrowed though. The plan sounded great in theory, but there was a lot more to it than that. Eren was barely able to control his titan at all to begin with.  
But Armin’s eyes weren’t full of hope. Instead, he confessed, “But, as expected, now that I say it again… it sounds about as likely as catching clouds.”  
“Whether those clouds can be turned itno something all depends on this guy.” Levi stated, glaring expectantly at Eren.  
Eren, like the good soldier he was, nodded his head and responded with, “Yes. Understood.”  
Demi resisted the frown she felt rising to her lips. This whole plan was putting all of the pressure on Eren. Everythign was dependant of him becoming a titan and doing all the work. There had to be something more that the rest of them, as Slayers and soldiers, could do to help. This didn’t need to be shoved completely off on Eren. The rest of them weren’t useless.  
Levi turned around in his chair, his arm on the back of it and looked at Hanji who was sitting with her squad. He told her, “You heard him, Hanji. He wants to do it. So then it falls to you to choose a suitable place for experimentation.”  
Demi’s shoulders twitched. The term experimenting bothered her to no end. The thought of them using Eren like some kind of fucking gineau pig had her stomach churning. If they could find a Slayer with an Earth type weapon… then they wouldn’t need Eren to plug up the hole. And protecting the humans would become their job again.  
Hanji looked as though she were in some kind of daze. Her eyes were in her lap and it took her several moments to even respond to Levi. Her words were heavy though, as she looked up at him. “Yes… of course. So long as I live, that is my responsibility.” Levi looked at her questioningly and for the briefest moment, she looked at Kana before her gaze dropped once again. Her hands flipped over in her lap and she looked at the palms of her hands as though they were stained in blood. Perhaps they were. Hanji explained, “Currently, the Garrison is patrolling the wall with a general mobilization. That requires an absurd amount of effort and personnel. To say the least, security in the walls is loosening on the cities. At this rate, they won’t even be able to maintain the peace. Wall Maria must be retaken. I believe that more than ever before.” As she continued to talk, her words became more and more desperate and a fire of desperation was coming to her eyes. “I want to let everyone be at peace as soon as possible. I want to create a world where people can live without fighting amongst one another. Therefore… I don’t want to lose any time in testing Eren’s power. Without reservations this time. Of course, we must experiment with the hardening ability, as well as the specifics of titan transformation. There’s also the amazing possibility that he might have been able to control other titans. If that’s really possible then humanity just might be able to turn its current situation around! Which is why I can’t stand to sit here like this! We have to move quickly. However, I want Eren to keep a low profile for a while longer…”  
Eren gasped and nearly jumped out of his seat in protest, while Armin demanded, “Why is that?”  
Hanji watched them, her expression hardening. Her gaze shiftened to Leah. The girl had been with her when things got complicated. More so than she had anticipated. “The situation is more complex than we had thought…” Leah’s hands clenched into fists at Hanji’s words.  
Just a few days ago, Hanji had borrowed her for some help. But what they found… was something she still didn’t want to believe.  
Levi glared at the other squad leader. “C’mon now. I’m sure that since you guys came here, waiting has been like struggling to shit yourselves when its on the verge of leaking out. You’re even making those faces now. As to why you guys need to keep waiting to shit, Hanji, tell us why.”  
Hanji’s voice was almost inaudible. “Pastor Nick has died.”  
The room went quiet as the entire squads stared in shock at Hanji’s revelation. She gripped the arms of the chair and her voice turned into a snarl. “This morning, within the grounds of the Trost District Military barracks, Pastor Nick was found dead. The cause of death is unknown, but… he was killed.” She looked at Leah. “It happened when I borrowed Leah for the day to help me. I…”  
Hanji started to recall the events of what happened that day.  
“What do you mean he is dead!? How was this place found out?” Hanji demanded as she and Leah stormed into the barrack halls.  
Leah was doing her best to keep up with the angry squad leader. “They don’t know. The military police are still investigating.” There were two men standing in front of an open door and Hanji completely ignored them and started into the room. Her eyes widened as they locked on the pastor who lay on the ground. There was blood all over his face, and splattered on the floor. She also noticed ath all of his nails were completely ripped off his fingers. For a moment, Hanji lost her ability to breathe.  
Leah covered her mouth. “Why had someone done this? Nick was their best chance of learning the truth about the titans and the walls. But someone had wanted him silenced. Why?  
The taller of the two military soldiers put his arm up. He had black hair and a long narrow face with a huge nose. He snapped at Hanji, “Oi, are you trying to mess up the scene of the crime, Survey Corpsman?”  
The blonde one pushed both girls violently back. “Do not come any closer!”  
Hanji stepped back and pulled Leah forward. Her hands on the small girls shoulders. “Let us in! This is her grandfather!” Hanji lied.  
The black haired soldier looked back into the room and casually told her. “Well, this is our job.” Turning back to them, he added, “His belongings in the room were stolen. It’s a murder-robbery. As you know, such incidents have been happening lately.”  
Immediately Leah felt a knot twist up in her stomach. She knew they were lying. Hanji caught on as well because she said, “That can’t be. Are you saying a robber went out of his way to choose a military installation? Did you see his fingers!? Why were his fingernails ripped out!? His face looks like he was struck quite a few times! How did the intruder get in!? And what about the cause of death and the weapon!?”  
Leah started to suggest that Hanji needed to calm down, but the black haired soldier grabbed her and demanded, “What squad are you from!?”  
“Squad 4!” Hanji snapped.  
Leah moved between them. “This is Squad 4 leader, Hanji Zoe, and I am Special Operations Squad member Leah Canis.” Leah started to continue, but the man went ona rant.  
“When the entire organization is so tiny, such lofty titles sure ring hollow. You Survey Corps. What about your own jobs? It’s your job to scheme how to reduce the numbers inside the wall when you’re not busy reducting your numbers outside, right? Why don’t you try living outside the wall while you’re at it? We can save on quite a bit of taxes that are wasted on your lot.”  
The smaller soldier with blonde hair started to laugh while his counterpart kept jabbing at the two of them. “Look. A titan didn’t kill a human here. A human killed a human. We’ve been working scenes like this for decades. And just how many times have you guys caught the culprit after investigating the scene? If the answer is none, then shut up, and don’t get in the way. Why don’t you scram and go count some titans?”  
Both Leah and Hanji were struck speechless. Leah’s eyes narrowed. She wanted to teach these two a lesson. But what would be the reprucussions of attacking the two of them here?  
The taller soldier asked, “Goodness, did I scare them too much? Can you guys even walk?”  
Hanji put her hand up when Leah went to grab the soldier’s jacket. Hanji calmly asked, “Central First Military Police Brigade?” When the man stiffened in shock, Leah realized what was off.  
“Why would the Royal Capital’s Military Police come here, to the southernmost Trost District?”  
Hanji added, “I was just thinking how unusually old you were. So you weren’t Military Police from around here.”  
“Is it really that strange? The public order has degenerated and there aren’t enough soldiers. This city here on the border is in particular need. Unlike you lackeys, the useful soldiers are currently busy.”  
Hanji stepped up to him and grabbed his hand. “I see. So that’s how it is! Maybe it’s because I’ve been a useless soldier for sucha long time that I was frightened by a soldier from such an amazing place! Please let me shake hands with you!” Hanji’s expressions suddenly returned to the sullen look of an unhappy woman. “I see… so he met with a robber… nick… he must have been scared… poor guy. But I wonder if he had anything worth stealing…”  
“If you think of the victims position, it’s not unsual that something like this would happen. The iron used by the Wall religion for its rituals is known to be quite valuable.”  
Hanji’s eyes widened. “Nick had something to do with the wall religion?” Leah smiled inside. Hanji was so damn good at acting. Even she was believing what was going on before her.  
The black haired soldier snapped, “What are you saying? It was you from the Survey Corps that brought Pastor Nick into these barracks, wasn’t it?”  
“Yes. I’m the one that brought him here. He’s a good friend of mine and this child’s grandfather. He had lost his home because of the disturbance this time. It wasn’t a good idea to use the military barracks for personal purposes, but until he had found a new place to live, I arranged for him to use this room. However, the man we knew was a chair maker. Or at least that’s what I recorded on the application paperwork for the use of this room.  
“He had escaped without a single piece of luggage. At the very least, when he came here, he had no clothing or ritual tools related to the wall religion or anything like that. I didn’t ask Nick about anything related to the wall religion. After all, maybe he was in shock from being chased by the titans or something, but he couldn’t even leave this room… It shouldn’t be possible for anyone here to know any details about Nick…” Hanji turned her head up, still squeezing his hand. “However, I couldn’t have known everything about Nick, right?” When the man demanded she let go of his hand, Hanji gasped and jumped back. “My apologies, I shook too hard!   
“Well then, I’ll leave the investigation to you! And when you catch the culprits, please relay this message to those cowardly villans: Perhaps they thought there was justice or a great good in these actions. OR maybe they did so under orders, so they had no personal blame and that’s how it is, so there was no helping it, but…  
“I couldn’t care less about things like that! The criminsals will surely come to experience greater miseries than my friend did, with their own bodies! How pitiful!”  
Hanji stormed and screamed back at them as he walked away, “Tell the robbers that!”  
Leah followed quickly after the squad leader. “Do you think they’re the ones that killed Nick?”  
Hanji snarled. “I don’t know that he did it himself, but he participated. The skin on his knuckles was torn. Nick was tortured by the central first military police brigade… and killed.”

Hanji and Leah both left out what had happened after they left that building. A couple onlookers had been talking and Hanji overheard them saying that they had seen a woman with red hair leave just before the Pastor had been reported dead.  
There was only one person, anymore, that she knew of with red hair. And that person had been the last one to see Nick alive. Her hands clenched. She didn’t want to accuse Kana. Maybe because of how much she looked like that woman from six years – the same face and the same name – but she had been involved, somehow, with Nick’s murder.  
Leah’s sad purple eyes said she didn’t want to discuss it any further either. There was something very disturbing boing on within the walls and it was preventing them from discovering how to stop the titans.


	78. Security Breach

Hanji’s words were weighted with guilt. “I thought that the wall religion wouldn’t just leave Nick be, after he had cooperated with the Survey Corps… which is why I had concealed his true identity and had him placed within the military barracks. To think that they’d kill him by using the Military Police. I was too naieve. I have responsibility in his death.”  
For a while, the room stayed quiet. No one was really sure what to say in response to this. Leah’s arms were crossed tight as she leaned on the table. Kana had been given an order by the commander of the military himself and it looked as though she had been trying to conceal her identity. Everything was pointing in her direction in this accident.  
Armin stated, “Torture. The military police tortured Pastor Nick. They were trying to find out how much he ahd said to us?”  
Jean’s eyes narrowed. At one point, he had thought of joining those soldiers. He had wanted to be a part of their ranks to relax in the innermost walls. But from what Hanji said, the Military was nothing but a bunch of self-richeous asshats.  
Levi set his tea cup down after taking a long sip and said, “Indeed. They must have asked whether he had revealed the connection between the wall religion and the Reiss family. As well as the whereabouts of Eren and Historia.”  
The two of them exchanged a look at this.  
A member of Hanji’s squad stated, “Of course, since Nick’s death, the situation has been shared with Commander Erwin, Commander Pixis, and the rest of the Survey Corps. So now the Central Military Police is being monitored by us, so they shouldn’t be able to move too recklessly. But looking at it another way, now they have any number of ways to find this place out, right? Now we don’t know who is friend or foe anymore.”  
Kana stiffened when she became awkwardly aware of several gazes turning on her. Was she under suspiscion of being a traitor? She knew that Erwin didn’t trust her, but how many of these people believed that she was a criminal.   
Demi had been leaning her chin on her hand and commented, “It would be pretty easy to weed out Eren and Historia by planting a spy, wouldn’t it?”  
Kana looked over, seeing Demi’s gaze was direction on her. She felt her lip curl back in a snarl. “Do you – “  
Hanji put her hands up. “When coming here today, we split up and made sure we weren’t followed. So I don’t think this place has been discovered yet.”  
Levi looked to Hanji. “Have you been thinking about the preparations for Eren’s experimentation?”  
Hanji nodded. “As soon as Eren’s titan power became clear, something within Central has been moving desperately to get its hands on Eren. However, after the disturbance this time, their sense of urgency has clearly changed. They’ve walked into previously unentered territory and thought nothing of splitting the military into two camps. And moreover with everything within the wall unsettled as well…  
“When you think about this situation normally, the comrades of enemies form outside like Reiner and the others were really always in central this whole time. In other words what we should really fear is a fatal stab in the back while we’re busy looking beyond the wall.”  
“Or from within our own squad.” Demi added, earning another dark glare from Kana.  
Levi snapped at Hanji, “So? Are you trying to say that we should just wait quietly and have a tea part or something?”  
Hanji answered, “There are still many thigns you can do inside; sewing and so forth. Please. Just for now.”  
“’Just for now’? That is mistaken. It’s the opposite.” Levi’s hand clenched into a fist. “Do you think they’ll just give up as time passes? They’ll find this place eventually. If we’re just running away, the more time passes, the more we’ll be driven to the wall. Hanji, you’re usually quite sharp. However, after feeling responsible for Nick’s death, you’ve become a defeatist. How many of nick’s fingernails were torn?”  
Hanji looked really confused suddenly and she said, “I could only see for a moment. I don’t know – “  
“All of them.” Leah answered. “Every single nail was ripped from his fingers.”  
Levi leaned back again. He stated, “A guy that will talk will talk with just one. But a guy that won’t talk will be the same no matter how many are pulled out. I figured Nick was just an idiot but… he didn’t deviate from what he believe in, even until the very end.” Looking back to his squad, he went on. “If chances are high that Nick didn’t spill, then perhapse that something from central hasn’t’ taken notice that the survey corps is monitoring the Reiss family. As I see it, there are two ways to go now. Go out before we get stabbed in the back or go out after eliminating the one that will stab us in the back. Which will it be?”  
Demi shot up and snarled. “We’ll destroy them. Do all of you forget that there’s four Slayers here? Eren and Historia are safe, whatever decision we make. Instead of laying low waiting for someone to get the jump on us. We know that the military corps is trying to stop us from finding out the truth about the walls and want Eren dead and Historia out of our hands. They’re the enemy so we should stop fucking around and just end it.”  
Levi glared at her. “We need a more specific target and plan. We can’t be that reckless.”  
“We already know who we should go after.” Demi snapped. “Don’t we, Kana?”  
Kana shot up and snapped at the brown haired girl, “What the fuck you are you trying to say Demi? I’m getting a little sick and tired of these jabs. If you have something to say then say it! If this is because of that bullshit about me wearing the military uniform, then I’d tell you to clean out your fucking eyes. That wasn’t me!”  
“Oh, so it was another girl with red hair that looks exactly like you?” Demi snapped. “Do you understand how ridiculous you sound? Three of us saw you that day! Are you saying we were all wrong!? She was even radiating a Slayer aura. That wasn’t a mistake! If you’re not a traitor then you better start explaining yourself!”  
“Both of you need to sit down and shut up. You can have your argument elsewhere.” Levi ordered.  
Tsuki was looking between Demi and Kana. Just what the hell had happened between them?

Tsuki looked down at her little fox when he swam around in the sink. She scolded amaak and told him to get out. It just made a happy little noise and went back under water. “I can’t do the dishes if you keep dirtying the water.  
I am not dirty, excuse you.  
Tsuki sighed heavily and looked over at Demi when she stormed through the kitchen. She tripped over a pot and cursed, kicking it violently out of her way. Tsuki asked, “Hey, what is going on between you and kana?”  
Demi glared at her. “What do you think, Tsuki? Eren is in danger more now than ever before. And Kana is working with the military. You’re skeptical but you didn’t see what we did. There was no mistaking that was Kana. And she ran from me. I will not let her endanger the new friends I have made. She’s hiding something, Tsuki!”  
“But why don’t you two just talk about it?” Tsuki tried.  
“She keeps denying it was her! But it obviously was! Name one other person with red hair that you’ve seen!”  
Tsuki started to open her mouth. The first thing she thought of was the woman from her memory. The lady that she had grabbed the red locks of when she was so small. But she pursed her lips. That wasn’t what Demi was talking about and she didn’t know anything about that woman. Whoever she was. Tsuki shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but I don’t think Kana is a liar…”  
Demi gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to upset the girl, but something had felt off about Kana since she first met her. When they had first come to her castle and she attacked Kana, it had been because the red-head had caused her to feel unsettled. It was like a dark aura was wrapped around it and she couldn’t help but feel like it was dangerous. For some reason, she felt the need to defend herself.  
She felt vulnerable.  
Demi shook her head and stormed out of the cabin. She sat on the edge of the well and stared up at the sky. The stones were cold against the back of her thighs. She was wearing nothing but green shorts and a yellow tank top, but she didn’t want to go back inside to fetch more clothes. The brisk night air seemed to appease her anyway. All of these people had known each other for a long time. So how could she expect someone to believe her when she said that their friend was evil? Demi’s eyes narrowed. But she knew what she saw. It was the same person. She was dressed in a Slayer aura with crimson hair. She didn’t need to see her face. Their bodies were identical. There was no mistaking that the person dressed in black was –   
Demi felt a hand on her shoulder and she quickly spun around, her arm wrapping around the forearm of the person who touched her until she realized that it was Eren and she stopped herself short just before dropping him down the 50 foot well. She gasped and quickly pulled him back up. “E-Eren!? I’m so sorry!”  
Eren’s eyes had been wide with fear when he thought the Slayer was going to send him to his own death. He dropped down the cold stone of the well until he was sitting in the grass, panting. “I-It’s okay. You seem… tense…”  
Demi dropped to her knees beside him. “I’m sorry… My mind is everywhere and I’m feeling really stressed out.” She put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him close to her. She was shaking. She couldn’t believe that she had been so wound she nearly threw him down the well. Swallowing hard, her arms slipped around him.  
“Stop worrying so much, Demi.” Eren told her softly, cupping her hands in his. “I know you were worrying so much, at the meeting, about protecting me, but I promise I’ll be okay. You and Kana need to focus on training Tsuki and Leah and preparing them as Slayers for fighting the titans. I have my own job to do.”  
Demi shook her head and gritted her teeth. “I can’t just sit back, Eren. They’re talking about treating you like a fucking test subject. That’s not what you are! They can’t just force you to do weird things and decide how useful you are! You’re not a tool, you’re – “  
“Right now, I am.” Eren argued. “I joined the Survey Corps so I could help in whatever way I could. I have accepted that this is the way in which I can help. By letting them do this to me, I might, one day, be able to protect everyone from the titans.”  
“But, Eren – “ Demi’s voice was cracked and shaky. Why didn’t he understand how inhumane they were being? Why wasn’t he upset or mad? As she stared up into his sparkling clear green eyes, she saw that all there was in them was determination. This man she had fallen in love with cared about nothing except protecting all of humanity. But that was her job. Such a burden shouldn’t be on his shoulders.  
He cupped her face and pulled her into a deep and soft kiss. “Don’t worry about me, Demi.” He spoke tenderly against her lips. She couldn’t literally feel how desperate he was to calm her and help her. “You have so much else to worry about, so let me stress myself over this. You don’t need to.”  
Demi kissed him back, but her lips were a little rougher, a little more desperate. “Don’t let them push you too hard, Eren. Speak up when you’re worn out or when you’re exhausted. Don’t go until you collapse, okay? I don’t want to lose you.”  
Eren ran his fingers through her brown locks and whispered, “You won’t lose me. I will always be fighting. And if I become strong from this, then I can protect you, the same way you’ve always protected us…”  
Demi’s eyes widened and she gripped the front of his uniform. She knew why she had fallen so in love with him. Every ounce of his strength was dedicated to doing the right thing. He was terrified of letting them down and of not being able to protect those he cared about. But of course he felt that way. He had lost his mother before his very eyes; and then later he lost his squad because of a friend of his turned traitor. The poor guy had scene so much and they were so young.  
She wanted to shelter him from losing any more. Her arms wrapped around him and she breathlessly whispered, “Eren…” But she couldn’t finish her sentence. She lost her train of thought. What had she wanted to convey to him? What had she wanted to assure or tell him? How could he care about a girl with no memory or nothing to define herself? She was a blank slate and hopeless for a future. But here he was, going out of his way to take care of her.  
He kissed her again, pulling her body up against him. Just like that, she forgot about the darkness that scared her. She forgot about the darkness inside the cabin that threatened her existence. She forgot about the darkness in her future that she couldn’t yet see. All of her fears melted away with each movement of his lips. He assured and protected her.  
She felt Eren’s arms slowly sliding down her body and wraping around her, under her knees and then around her back. He lifted her up bridal style and her arm instinctively clutched tight onto the back of his shirt. His lips didn’t move away from hers. In fact, as he carried her back inside and up the stairs, he deepened the kiss. Demi couldn’t resist any longer and slipped her tongue across his bottom lip. The boy stumbled a bit climbing the stairs when she did, but he caught himself against the wall. He clutched her more tightly as he made his way to his room.  
He had struggled with the door but finally got it open, his lips opened up to Demi’s letting her slip her tongue in. But she’d already untucked his shirt from his uniform pants and her hand was slithering up his torso, feeling the strong muscles there. His frame was too small for them to be very defined, but they were hard and secure against her hands. He set her down and she replaced her hands with her body as she tugged his jacket off his shoulders. His hands were occupied in the same way, trying to slide her jacket off.   
The sound of both fabrics hitting the floor echoed in her ears before she was lifted up and set gently on the bed. Eren brushed her hair back and kissed softly along her neck. Demi’s whole body relaxed and she closed her eyes. She softly whispered, “Thank you, Eren…”  
He smiled against her skin. “I always worry when you go running off like that. I’m afraid… one of these days you won’t come back.”  
“I’ll try not to run off so much…” She softly told him as he lay her back on the bed and wrapped himself around her. He secured her, not letting her mind return to the nightmares she had twisted herself into.


	79. Rejection

Kana had been restless for so many hours of the night until she had finally given up on sleep. Maybe getting herself a drink would calm her nerves. She tugged on her red gown and made her way out of the room and into the kitchen. As she poured herself a glass of water, she noticed the front door hadn’t been shut all the way. With a sigh, she kicked it closed and then started to head back to her room when she noticed a light flickering in the dining area where they had the meeting earlier.  
Curiosity moved her into the room, but she stopped when she saw Levi leaning on his elbow, a few papers in his lap. It looked like a script. Then she realized that it must be orders from Erwin. Her gaze softened in the flicker of the candle light. She had never seen her captain not working. He was constantly bossing around the soldiers or worrying about their well-being; she wondered if he hardly ever slept. Even when he had stayed at her place, she had never seen him sleep. He was always up after her and up before her.  
“You should wait till morning.” Kana stated, making Levi look up for just a moment. But just as soon as his attention went to her, he went back to his paper. She added, “Reading in candlelight is bad for your eyes. You’ll go blind.”  
“So be it.” He commented casually.  
Kana sat down beside him and teased, “We can’t have humanity’s strongest soldier going blind. Why don’t you rest?”  
“I’ll be fine.” Levi told her sharply. “You should be more worried about your own restlessness hindering the squad tomorrow when we start working with Eren’s titan shifting.”  
Kana grumbled and looked away. She was getting the feeling that he really didn’t want her around and that she was bothering him. A frown creased her lips. It had seemed like since her issue with Erwin and withdrawing from the Survey Corps, everyone was blaming her. Tsuki had really been the only one that treated her the same as she had from before and was excited to have her back. She didn’t mind if no one was excited, but all of the glares and suspicious looks were starting to get to her.  
When she looked back, she realized that Levi’s steely gaze was on her instead of his paperwork. He casually asked, “Something on your mind?”  
“N-No…” Kana whispered. “I just didn’t want to be alone right now.”  
There was a long pause and there seemed to be something mixed in that cold gaze of his. For a moment, the desperity Kana felt had her convinced that it was worry. He asked, “Why? Scared of the dark?”  
He wasn’t sure what exactly what he was expecting. Perhaps the usual glare and calling him a jerk. He realized his heart had jumped at that thought. But instead, those crimson eyes looked broken and she looked down. She whispered, “Maybe…” She looked back at him, a little hope flickering into those bright red orbs. “Can I just sit out here with you for a while? I promise I won’t bother you.”  
He gritted his teeth. He hated that she felt like she was bother. The desire to convince her that she wasn’t a bother to anyone made his hand twitch, but he just couldn’t bring himself to act on it. There was something foreign stopping him. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders and went back to reading.  
“Is it cause I was a criminal?”  
Levi looked up when Kana spoke up suddenly again. He looked at her, expecting her to explain her question.  
“Is that why everyone is mad at me? They’re all acting like I did something and that I’m betraying all of them. Is it cause they know that I was – “  
“No one has a clean past.” Levi stated with finality, setting the paperwork aside. “We all have secrets we don’t want to share. Don’t we?” He looked at her, as though expecting her to say something meaningful in return. When she said nothing, he stood up and finished, “No one is upset about you or your past. You’re just being paranoid. Now get some sleep.”   
He mussed her hair as he walked by, but Kana quickly caught his arm before he walked away. “Wait, Levi…” Her fingers trembled on his sleeve and he looked sharpy at her. Her gaze fell and her throat tightened up. “Even you… you’ve looked at me with such disappointment… for a while now. Did I do something…?”  
She didn’t know why, but something in her words had triggered him. He yanked his arm away and his eyes filled with anger. He snapped, “There wasn’t anything you did so would you stop whining about it, you brat?”  
Kana felt her hands go numb and they hung uselessly in the air. The world around her felt broken and disjointed. She was so confused and out of place. Maybe coming back here was a mistake. She had done something and all of them were upset with her about it. But why would no one talk to her? Why did no one believe her that she wasn’t the one in that uniform? Just what did they think she’d done?  
Kana tucked her hands in her lap as her captain turned his back to her. She had felt so close to him for a while when the female titan had attacked, and then even when she was so upset with him before Burt and Reiner had betrayed them. But since she had taken her leave from the Survey Corps, it felt like the two of them were broken. But of course what did she expect? He was her captain and she was a soldier. The most he could ever do for her was entertain her. They couldn’t be together, despite the strong feelings she felt for him. And she was only bothering him by coming to him with her problems.  
Embarrassed, she whispered, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so obnoxious.” She felt her heart ache. She was just wanting relief. She wanted someone to look at her and say that no one was upset with her. That they knew she wasn’t a traitor. That everything was okay. Why had she gone to him of all people for that? She didn’t know; but maybe it was because she always felt safer in his presence.  
Levi leaned against the wall, his hand clenched tight into a fist. So much so that it was shaking against his leg. “Was it so insignificant to you…?”  
Kana looked up at him questioningly. Now she was more confused than before. “Was…. What so insignificant, Levi…?”  
“Why… won’t you… just remember…?”

The valley in the mountains was the perfect place to practice with Eren’s titan shifting. Most of the soldiers were standing at the top of the cliff, looking down into the area where Eren had shifted. Kana, Demi, Tsuki, Leah and several other soldiers were all running around the mouth of the valley, readied for battle in case Eren wasn’t able to control his titan. So far things looked to be okay. They hadn’t had any issues with his titan.  
Hanji had been going wild with her experiments. In the first several hours of the testing, though, they had learned that Eren couldn’t harden his body; at all. With that hope extinquished, they had moved on to intelligence and building tests. Eren did fine, until he ran out of energy and left his titan. After 30 or so minutes, Eren had demanded to try again.  
The process occurred several times, but this time, things seemed off. During the last test, while trying to write, following Hanji’s order, Eren had started writing something about his father before panicing and leaving his titan form. Now he was back in it again, but his titan was smaller and falling apart.  
Kana turned her horse around, looking back as Eren seemed to be slow moving. Hanji was trying to say something, but it didn’t look like Eren was responding. His titan fell over and Tsuki ran several paces away so she wouldn’t get crushed underneath. Kana had suggested to her to remain off her horse. In order to use her abilities, they had learned that Tsuki had to remain absolutely still. Kana had suggested, on the off-hand chance that something went wrong, to be off the horse and ready to activate Amaak.  
She prayed she was overreacting and there would be no need for that.  
But despite Hanji’s shouted orders, Eren seemed to be doing his own thing. Demi was closest to him. She would need to react first to yank Eren out of the titan. Leah, who was all the way on the other side, was on defense just like Tsuki. If things started to go wrong, her job was to protect the other soldiers from Eren until she or Demi cut him out.  
Then suddenly, Eren’s arm swung out wide and he started scrambling towards Connie and Jean who were a little farther than Tsuki on the edge.  
Mizuki was sitting on the back of Kana’s saddle and stated, “Looks like we’ll have to cut the titan down! Yay! I can play.”   
Kana shook her head at the small girl. “Most likely not. Demi is right there and she can cut him out.”  
“Oh boo.”  
Demi rushed towards Eren and gasped when his arm flew towards her. She jumped quickly out of the way, her eyes wide. His titan form had completely taken him over because Eren didn’t even recognize her as he flailed around, trying to grab one of them. She landed on his moving arm and ran towards his neck. “Sarthis.” Demi called her weapon as she jumped high into the air. A massive round blade wrapped around her as she held it up. It was the perfect kind of weapon for scooping Eren right out of the titans neck.  
But as she desended towards him, she felt her movements falter. What if she missed and hurt him? What if he didn’t want to be ripped from his skin? What if he was trying to do something? Panic and fear settled like a rock in her stomach. Her hesitation had her arms shaking. She couldn’t do this. Eren wasn’t a toy that they could just turn off when they were done. They were treating him like nothing but an animal and she didn’t want to take part in it.  
Eren’s titan howled at her and his other, partially formed hand, came flying towards her. Demi barely doved out of the way, rolling across the ground. She flipped back up to her feet, seeing a crimson blur fly right past her. Demi’s eyes widened and she shouted, “Stop! You can’t just rip him out of there! We need to try and calm him down first!”  
Kana glared at the green eyed Slayer as Mizuki, squealing and happy to finally get to play again, was in her hand. Kana snarled at Demi, “I don’t care! While he’s rampant, he’s going to get someone killed. If you want to talk to him, you can do it once he’s a human!” She narrowed her eyes and called out to Mizuki. Alright. Let’s do this. We know what we’re fighting for. There’s no more hesitation. Got that!?  
Mizuki screamed yes into her mind as her body glowed and started wrapping around Kana’s arm, transforming into the glove. As Kana flew towards Eren, going for his neck, the titan saw her and raised his hand to swing at her. As Kana spun in the air, to use her forming weapon to cut through Eren’s hand, she suddenly felt sick.  
Her world flipped upside down and it felt like her body was being torn apart. An overwhelming heat like acid surged through her veins and caused her body to feel like a volcano. Then, piece by piece, Mizuki shattered along her arm. It left a horrendous sensation along her skin as her nerves broke apart and her weapon rejected her.  
Eren’s swinging arm made full impact with her body as the pieces of Mizuki dropped to the ground in what looked like a pile of black diamons. The hit sent Kana flying through the air, over the mouth of the valley and into the forest. Trees collapsed in her wake and dust flew up into the air until her body finally came to a stop.  
For several seconds, the soldiers all stood in shock, not sure what they had just witnessed. Tsuki started to react and go for Eren who was still climbing towards the others when Jean shot passed her using his gear. Tsuki shouted for him to stop, fear making her voice crack. But he easily cut just enough of the back of the neck that several others were able to climb on top of the titan and pull Eren out.  
Hanji was staring in shock at Eren’s titan form as it dissolved. “What… happened…?” She started to turn and ask Levi, but he was already gone, headed off in the direction Kana had been thrown.  
While most of the soldiers tended to Eren, Leah ran up to the little black haired girl who sat crying beside the dissolving mess. Leah lifted her up and asked, “What’s going on, Mizuki? What was that?”  
But Mizuki just kept senselessly crying. Leah carried her back towards the others, waiting for her next order. After Hanji had jumped down and they successfully pulled Eren out, she gave the order for the units to withdraw.  
Demi’s eyes were wide as she looked at Eren’s body. Most of his face was completely burned out, especially around his eye sockets. And then there were burn marks all along his body and his limbs were mangled. She gritted her teeth. They had pushed him too hard. And just as she had expected, he let them.  
Connie shouted to Jean, “We’re pulling back! Scout around the area and make sure there aren’t any witnesses!”   
Jean grumbled, but did as he was told, taking off ahead.  
The rest of the squad was helping to load Eren into the wagon. Historia was ordered to join them while majority of the other soldiers made rounds to check for any spies while waiting on Levi and Kana to return.

Levi lunged over the broken and fallen pieces of the trees until he finally came to the end of the destruction path. He saw several trees all crumbled in one single pile and he started hurriedly tearing through them. If it was her corpse he found at the bottom of the pile then he –  
A large chunk of tree flew up beside of him and the crimson haired girl sat up, but her face was contorted in pain and she was roughly gripping her arm as pained whimpers left her lips.  
He felt so many things all at once. He was furious with her for getting hurt, relieved that she wasn’t dead, saddened that she was in pain and so many things but the only thing that came out was his anger. “What the hell was that? Don’t be so careless, stupid!”  
Kana struggled to her feet, but he suddenly moved to her and helped her, but his arms wrapped around her, pulling her against him. Despite the pain in her arm, Kana felt her breath leave her. She relaxed for just a single moment. Her gaze softened and she whispered, “Don’t waste your time worrying about me, Captain.”  
“Shut up.” He hissed. “You don’t order me around.” His grip tightened on her for a moment before he jerked himself away and snapped. “Now would you hurry up? Today has been nothing but a series of letdowns.”  
Kana felt her heart sink. And she had been one of them.

Tsuki looked up with relief when she saw Levi and Kana both walking back. Kana hadn’t been seriously injured. Thank goodness! But her eyes widened when she saw that the Slayer’s eyes were dark with rage. They looked almost black from where she stood. “Kana! You’re okay!”  
Kana walked right by Tsuki and it made her body stiffen. She had never seen Kana act this way. Especially not towards her. Turning around just in time to see the scene before her, she heard the crack of a fist connecting with someone’s face. Tsuki shouted in anger and horror as Kana hovered over Demi who hit the ground. The green Slayer glared at the red one, her nose dripping with blood.  
Demi shot up to defend herself, but Mikasa grabbed a sudden hold of Demi, yanking her back before she could swing back at Kana and when Kana had gone to hit her again, Tsuki wrapped her arm around Kana’s neck and snarled, “Kana!? What the hell has gotten into you!? Why did you hit her!?”  
Demi snarled at Kana, “Are you just taking it out on me because you fucked up!? What the hell did I do!?”  
“That wouldn’t have fucking happened if you would have done your damn job!” Kana shouted. “You just fucking sat there spewing some shit about not wanting to hurt the dumb bastard! He’s a fucking titan he’s going to regenerate! The human soldiers running around protecting him and the rest of us are the ones you need to fucking worry about!”  
“We all have our own priorities and no one gives a damn about him! I’m not just going to fucking sit around and let all of you use him like a fucking animal!” Demi screamed back. “But don’t even try to act all fucking high and mighty on me, Kana! You know damn well that you fucked up and you’re trying to blame me! I know what happened. Your fucking weapon rejected you! That’s not my fucking fault! You’re the one that even your weapon has recognized as unworthy! So stop taking your fucking problems out on me! You – “  
Kana ripped away from Tsuki and went to hit Demi again, but Demi had gotten her arm free enough to block it and punch Kana back, sending her down onto her back.  
The other soldiers all started shouting and protesting, trying to get them to calm down. But Demi lifted up, trying to punch Kana in her throat, but the redhead kicked up and and flipped Demi over. Pinning her arms down in a hand Kana had now tried to take a swing but she was ripped off the Slayer and thrown on the ground away from her.  
Levi snarled, his patience gone. “Both of you need to cool off. This fighting is ridiculous and needs to stop now. If it doesn’t then we’ll send both of you back to the walls.”  
Demi sat up, huffing and glaring at Kana. She could feel that darkness radiating off of Kana now like an antenna sending off a radio wave. She could hear it, feel it, see it. It felt like pure evil and something inside of her was screaming for her to run.  
Calmly, Tsuki held her hands out to Kana. “Hey… I get that you’re upset… but don’t you think punching Demi was a little unnecessary? Why don’t the two of you just – “  
Kana pushed Tsuki back. “Fuck you! Fuck all of you!” She got to her feet, brushing the dirt and blood off of her and snarled. “Every damn one of you have made it obvious that I’m not fucking welcome back here! Well fine! I’m clearly under suspicion for being a traitor for some fucking reason that doesn’t make sense to me. Other than that, I’m just some big disappointment. This is bullshit! I should have never fucking come back here! Fuck all of you!”  
Levi grabbed her sleeve before she stormed off. “Would you quit acting like – “  
Kana ripped her arm away just like he had done to her the night before. She snapped, “Don’t fucking touch me! I’ll train Tsuki and Leah to use their weapons, but otherwise, I want the rest of you to just fucking leave alone!” She grabbed the reins of her horse roughly and jerked the animal around, pulling herself of and bolting back towards the cabin.  
Tsuki stared after her friend sadly. She had never seen her like this; but she had never seen her so aggressive with someone before either. Kana had always been so cool and collected. She noticed, too, that the captain stared after her. Only she could see, from the angle where she stood, the sheer horror and agony in his eyes.  
But her attention was pulled towards the crying that she suddenly realized she was hearing. In Leah’s arms, the little black weapon hadn’t stopped crying for a second since being dropped. Leah was bouncing the little girl in her arms, but nothing was working. Tsuki walked over and took her, setting her on the ground. She softly cooed, “Hey Mizuki-chan. Are you upset cause Kana’s mad? Or does it hurt somewhere?”  
Mizuki just kept crying and Tsuki frowned. She tried for several minutes to try and cheer the girl up, but everything was to know avail. She looked at Leah. “We’ll just have to take her back and to Kana. She’ll know what to do.”  
Leah glanced at Demi and awkwardly asked, “Do you think it’s really a good idea to give her to Kana? I mean, she just – “  
Tsuki stared at Leah in shock. “What are you saying? Kana was just mad, she wouldn’t – “ But it was then what she saw that Kana was so upset about. Leah’s gaze was sad, as though she knew something she wasn’t sharing. All of them were looking away as though they had just seen a murder take place. Since when had they started thinking so poorly of her best friend?   
Tsuki stared dumbfounded for the longest time. The squad had mended in the last few weeks, but in doing so, it seemed like now they were all turned on Kana. She didn’t understand. Were they all so sure that they had seen Kana that day? What if there really was another person with red hair and they were all mistaken?  
Tsuki gasped when she looked over, seeing the Captain pick up Mizuki, who immediately quieted, sniffling against his jacket. He ordered the rest of them, “Get a move on. The area has been cleared. Get back to the cabin and back to work.” He ordered coldly, jumping on his horse and leading them out.


	80. Under Orders

Demi was watching Eren with worried eyes as they sped back to the cabin. Steam was pouring off of his body, but it was so mangled from fusing with the titan that she feared just how he could regenerate so much. She tried to touch him, but Hanji caught her hand before she came close. She assured, “Don’t worry. He’ll be just as handsome as before. Just let him be.”  
Demi gritted her teeth. She should have stopped him the second and third times that he wanted to transform back into a titan again. This was her fault. If she would have just stood up to all of them then…  
She thought of Kana, angry and punching her and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Why? What was it radiating off of her that terrified her so much? She was just another Slayer and it wasn’t like she had done anything directly to her. She knew that Kana was lying about her whereabouts that day because there was no mistaking that person was her. But that didn’t automatically make her a murderer. So why did she keep feeling like she was going to die when she was close to her? It’s like it caused her body to tense up and protect itself.  
Demi gasped when she saw Eren shift his head just ever so slightly. It was like, despite his face being destroyed, he was looking at her, to assure her. She gripped her hands into fists. He cared so much. But she had let him down.  
Hanji was watching Demi, the emotions flittering across her face before looking back. When Eren’s titan form was dissolving, it was erupting into a massive smoke cloud that could be seen for miles.  
She cursed under her breath as the carriage carried on. We really can’t do this quietly. When he turned into a titan, that smoke goes up no matter what. Even deep within the mountains like this, we have to assume that they’re watching us from somewhere.

Eren was wiping off his face after finally having regenerated his body and woken fully up. In the room was Hanji, Demi, Mikasa, and Levi. Eren looked down, upset with himself. “No way. I was asleep for a whole day?”  
Hanji laughed without humor. “At least you’re back to normal. Looks like I’ll survive without Demi chopping me up. More importantly, do you remember what kind of experiments we did?”  
“No.” Eren confessed. “I have no memories from after the experiment started. What happened with the ‘hardening’.”  
After explaining to Eren that nothing close to any sort of hardening happened, and that the rest of the experiment proved to not make much advancement, Eren looked sullenly down at his hands. “So then… that means… the plan to retake Wall Maria is impossible at present, huh? And all because, I couldn’t harden my titan body.”  
“That’s exactly right.” Levi scowled. “We were quite disappointed. And thanks to you, today’s atmosphere is as shitty as a gutter. At this rate, time is just passing by without a single good thing happening. What’s going to happen next? Titans might arise from the earth, or fall from the skies, while humans remain like toothless prey. It’s a shitty sitation in any case.”  
Demi glared at Levi and quickly defended. “He did his best. It’s not his fault you – “  
“I know.” Levi retorted. “So what of it? What does it matter if he tried? He can’t plug up the hole right now.”  
Demi narrowed her eyes. “But even if you blame Eren for it – “  
“Hey.” Levi cut back in. “I just have a nasty mouth. I’m not blaming him. Identifying deficienceies and complaining about the situation is an important ritual. Listen. The stink of the gutters is always within the walls. It fills the air. It’s been like that for over 100 years. It’s always shit inside these walls. That’s the present situation. I only realized that these past several years. After all, I’ve been breathing this shitty air since I was born. I thought this was normal. But the air I breathed outside the walls was different. It’s a world like hell, but freedom that isn’t within these walls is out there. It was there that I realized for the first time just what I didn’t know.”  
Hanji put her hands up quickly. “In other words, what Levi is saying is this: This time, we succeeded in finding out that you can’t harden your titan, Eren. And of course, that’s not all! We were also able to find out the amount of time you can last when you consecutively transform into a titan, as well as your versatility and limitations. Everything from the experiment this time can be useful information! We may be paying the price for raising up all that smoke like we did, but now we’ll also see whether we can make use of the experiment results.” Hanji held up a determined fist. “In other words, let’s keep trying our best. That’s what Levi is saying.”  
Levi grumbled, “Yeah… thanks…”  
Demi looked at Eren who, more than anything, seemed upset about the weight put on his shoulders. She couldn’t blame him. He was just a human in a bad situation and they were expecting him to conquer the world for them. It was a load of shit to her. But what could she do. She didn’t make the decisions here.  
She noticed that after several moments of silence, Eren started to sway and she quickly went to him. She told him, “Your body is still weak. Don’t overdo it.”  
Eren reluctantly nodded. “Yeah…”  
After a worried glance from Hanji, she continued, “Well then, now that we know that hardening is impossible, the path we should take is set. Next is to look into the wall cult. They seem to know something about the origins of the walls, made of hardening titans. They might know something about the way those walls were made… about ‘hardening’ in other words. Surely, Erwin, who’s gone to the royal capital can find out something about why its not the king, the most priviledged of humanity, but rather the Reiss Family that is privy to these secrets.”

Kana, Tsuki, and Leah were leaned outside of the room in which all of them had been talking. Tsuki sighed heavily and commented, “I feel like of helpless. Kana, didn’t you say that it’s our job to protect people? Then it shouldn’t all be on Eren’s shoulders like it is, right? We can help, can’t we?”  
“Not like the two of you are.” Kana snapped, glaring away. She had been forbidden to go anywhere near Demi to avoid another fight. She couldn’t blame them. The green Slayer had recently been churning her stomach and causing an unnecessary rage. “Yes, Tsuki, you can heal, and yes, Leah, you can use your shield, but your powers themselves are weak.”  
“Should we train?” Leah hesitantly asked. At one point in time, Kana had risked life and limb to save her life from the female titan. But now, for some reason, this person was different. This person scared her.  
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Kana ordered, turning and marching down the hall.

Tsuki was knelt in front of Leah. Her arms were outstretched before her, her palms facing the small slayer in front of her. A matching silver white aura was around both Tsuki’s arms and Leah’s entire body. For an hour now, Leah hadn’t moved. Kana had ordered Tsuki to practice sustaining her energy for long periods of time. So she had been keeping Leah stopped in time and was to continue doing it as long as she could. Honestly, she wasn’t feeling exhausted, but rather her arms were getting sore.  
She noticed though, that Kana’s attention was on the small black haired girl sitting in front of her. Tsuki frowned, wondering if Kana had forgotten about her. “So… I keep just doing this until my energy runs out?”  
“Yep.” Kana stated. Her elbow was on her knee. To Mizuki, she asked, “I don’t understand. You’re saying I rejected you. But I felt you rip away from me.”  
Mizuki was glaring up at her, tears in her eyes. “I was trying to latch on and you pulled away.”  
“Maybe we just fucked up.” Kana stated. “Let’s try again.” She got back to her feet and reached down for the small girl. Mizuki happily jumped into her hand. Her body glowed white and she started to shift around Kana’s hand, but the second they tried to link nerves, just like before, Mizuki shattered into what looked like a thousand glass pieces.  
Kana let out a scream of pain and dropped down as Mizuki reformed beside her. Mizuki frowned and looked up at her. “I don’t understand… our motives are the same. We shouldn’t be struggling to sync together…”  
After a bit, the other squad members came out. Jean looked over at Tsuki and asked, “What are you doing?”  
“Practicing keeping a steady flow of energy going.” Tsuki answered, a smile on her face. “I’ve been at it for about three hours.”  
“Isn’t that long enough?” Jean asked, looking at Kana. Kana was glaring at Mizuki who ran over, climbing up Levi’s back and sat on his shoulder. Kana turned her attention to Jean when he spoke to her. She shook her head and explained, “A Slayer with the ability to control Time will make the difference in our battles. If someone dies, it’s on her shoulders to bring them back. We don’t want to lose someone because she didn’t have enough energy to save them. But at the same time, I know how selfless Tsuki is. If it were to come down to your death, Jean, she’d spend every drop of energy she had to rewind and save you. She’d end up killing herself by expending all her energy.” Turning to Tsuki, she continued, “I won’t let Tsuki sacrifice herself to save any of you. No one deserves to die. So I’m going to have Tsuki spend most of her training on being able to control the amount of energy she uses so that she can use her powers as many times a possible. Tomorrow we’ll start focusing on real stuff.”  
Armin frowned, his gaze going to Leah. “And it doesn’t affect Leah to be in that time warp for so long?”  
“No.” Kana explained. “Because of Tsuki’s power, Leah shouldn’t even feel that any figment of time as passed. When Tsuki releases her, she won’t even know that Tsuki had started the time warp around her.”  
“That’s amazing.” Armin stated.  
“Time is all a matter of perception. There is no actual existing unit that is ‘time’. So that’s why Tsuki’s abilities can work on specific objects without effecting everything or a certain radius.” Kana explained. “That’s what her powers do – the simply change a certain perception.”  
“Slayers can do incredible things.” Jean stated, in awe at Tsuki’s ability.  
“If you ever see a space Slayer, then you’re in for a real treat.” Kana stated, her eyes suddenly filled with wonder and admiration. “They’re so powerful… and they can do things… that will blow your mind.”  
“What do you mean by space?” Armin asked.  
“They can change the way any given space acts upon the objects around it. It’s the same as the way Tsuki can affect time.” Kana told him. “But these Slayers can collapse a space in a mear second. Or warp it. It gives the illusion that they have the ability to create explosions, or teleport or… truly amazing things.”  
“But, it’s the Slayers that have these powers, not the weapons?” Jean asked with confusion. “Because I’m confused. You’re saying that Tsuki is doing this, but that silver light is Amaak isn’t it?”  
Kana nodded. “It’s… complicated. The power itself is within the weapon. It fuesl the ability. But it’s the Slayer that activates it and controls it. In a way, its kind of the power that comes from the combination of the weapon and Slayer.”  
Mizuki was making a happy noise from her perch when she noticed Sarthis was slinking around on the ground. Excited, Mizuki jumped off and started chasing the snake across the field.  
“So then what about Leah’s power to sense death?” Armin asked. “She had that before she ever had her weapon.”  
“Yes. And Amaak had the ability to heal before he was with Tsuki.” Kana explained. “Like titans, humans, or anything else, there is no code we all follow. Some of us are unique, and some of us follow specific code. Weapons and Slayers can all have their own unique powers. Slayers, specifically always do. A slayer without a power is comparable to finding a person without sight. It’s plausible, but highly unlikely. However, weapons are much different. Not all of them have their own abilities. In the same way that not all humans have athletic abilities or artistic talent. It just comes and goes.”  
“So the ability to manipulate time is Tsuki’s but she uses the power through Amaak?” Jean asked.  
“Yeah.” Kana stated. She shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I was taught any of this stuff so I’m sketchy on the details myself.”  
“Who taught you?” Demi asked suddenly.  
Every stiffened when Demi spoke and looked between the two aggressive Slayers. Levi started to snap at her about following orders, but he remained silent. Curious to see how this ended up.  
Kana’s first instinct was simply to ignore her. But instead she answered, “My aunt and uncle told me about it before they were killed in the fall of Wall Maria.”  
“So they were human?” Demi asked. “How’s that possible?”  
“I’m guessing they weren’t my real aunt and uncle.” Kana explained. “Friends of my parents perhaps. I don’t know. I can’t exactly ask them. They died when I was fifteen. I didn’t exactly pay attention to those details.”  
Demi went quiet at this. For the first time since Kana’s return, she felt sympathy for the Slayer. She’d lost her family long before she’d ever known them and then her memory was stripped away from her. She didn’t even know if her family was alive or not. Demi opened her mouth to apologize to Kana for her behavior when a scream echoed across the area.  
They all looked over quickly, to see that Sarthis was wrapped around Mizuki and bit into her shoulder and neck. Kana’s eyes widened furiously and she shot over, pinching the neck of the green snake and prying it from her weapon and throwing it was hard as she could against the nearest tree. She lifted Mizuki up, checking to make sure she was okay. The small child went unconscious but she was okay. Her furious gaze turned on Demi. “What the hell!? If you have a problem with me that’s fine, but don’t fucking do something to Mizuki!”  
Demi’s eyes were wide. She kept looking at Sarthis who was limp against the tree. Why had Sarthis attacked Mizuki!? She glared at Kana, who had immediately jumped to conclusions. That sickening feeling came right back. “I didn’t do that! I don’t know why Sarthis – “  
“Bull shit!” Kana shouted. “You keep saying you have a damn problem with me and now you’re taking it out on my weapon, too!” Kana set Mizuki carefully down and ran towards Demi, ready to put her down for the count this time. She didn’t even waste a moment thinking about letting Demi defend herself. She was furious with what had happened. Mizuki was more important to her than anything else right now. Mizuki had pulled her from the darkness so many times. But before Kana could make contact with Demi, she was yanked back by the arm. The grip on her forearm was tight, jerking her back while another arm came around her neck, pinning her in place.  
Levi ordered, “If you don’t calm down, then I really will send you back to the walls.”  
“Why are you so quick to attack me over everything!?” Demi shouted, but she was being held back by Armin and Jean. “You’re just looking for an excuse to kill me! Aren’t you! Is it because I know that you’re a lying traitor!? Even your weapon fucking knows it, that’s why it rejected you!”  
“Fuck you!” Kana screamed, trying her hardest to get away from Levi. “You’re the one that’s been trying to pick me off since the day we met! You won’t let me defend myself so why the hell should I give you a chance to lie to my face! You hate me and just want me gone! Admit it you stupid selfish bitch – “  
“Why would I want that!?” Demi screamed. “We were all friends once! We’re supposed to still be friends! But you’re the one keeping secrets and going behind our backs! Why would I want to kill my friend!? I just want to know what you’re hiding! I just want to protect everyone!” Demi was screaming so loud there were tears in her eyes. “So stop lying and just trust us! Tell us what’s going on! I don’t want everyone to die!”  
Kana stopped fighting for a brief moment, her eyes wide. “What do you mean? What are you saying? Do you think I want everyone dead?”  
Tsuki’s eyes were wide. She had started to panic when she noticed that Demi and Kana were arguing again, but then she saw it. This fighting had finally revealed something. They were taking a moment, they were communicating instead of screaming.  
But the sound of whirling caught Tsuki off guard.   
She looked over quickly, seeing that Sarthis had turned into his shuriken form and was flying towards Kana and Levi. Tsuki dropped her hand, releasing Leah from the time warp. She screamed, “DEMI STOP! KANA, LOOK BEHIND YOU!”  
Kana looked over her shoulder, just as she saw the shuriken flying towards them. Her eyes widened with panic. Sarthis would go through both her and Levi at this angle. Gritting her teeth, she pivoted on her foot, hitting Levi right in the chest with her elbow at full strength, causing his arm around her loosen. It gave her enough room to turn him and push him back a step while the shuriken embedded itself right in the left side of her stomach. She gasped as a red hot wave of pain tore through her, sending her straight to her knees.  
Demi’s eyes were wide and she screamed, “SARTHIS!? What the fuck are you doing!?”  
Kana gasped and coughed up blood, as she ripped the shuriken out of her stomach. The blade had gone all the way through her and jutted out just a bit in her back, beside her spine. Kana panted. She had felt a pain similar to this many times, but she was in shock that it happened from a friend of hers. At least she had protected Levi. That was all that mattered.  
She gripped her stomach, her forehead going to the ground. It hurt to breathe, and to move.  
Sarthis turned back to his snake form and answered Demi. I followed our orders. Should I have not?  
Kana glared over at Demi. “Orders? What fucking orders?”  
Demi shook her head. “I-I don’t know… I don’t know anything about this. Sarthis I didn’t order you to do that. What are you talking about?”  
Do you no longer wish to complete our mission?  
Demi felt more and more panic settling in. She looked at Kana as Tsuki ran to her, pulling her up and examining her wound. Several others were crowding around, except the captain who just stood in shock. Demi hoarsely whispered. “What mission…?”  
Leah, who’d finally reoriented herself from her warp rushed over and asked Demi, “What’s going on, what happened?”  
Tsuki looked up at Leah as she questioned them. She shook her head. “I think Sarthis attacked Kana without Demi’s order. She didn’t give the weapon any orders and he attacked.” She put her hands over Kana’s wound, but her aura was flickering.  
Kana grabbed her wrist, but her hands were covered in blood and it smeared across her skin. Kana snapped, “Stop. When your aura is flickering, it means you’re almost out of energy. You don’t have enough to heal me.”  
“But you – “ Tsuki started.  
“Won’t die of blood loss.” Kana pulled herself to her feet. “It hurts, but I’m fine. Just because I can’t activate Mizuki doesn’t mean we aren’t still connected. I can still use her lifeforce. So I won’t die.”  
Tsuki looked over at the unconscious girl laying in the grass. “Even while she’s out cold?”  
Kana sighed and gave Tsuki a reassuring smile. “I’m fine.” When she turned around, part of her wanted to chew Demi out for what had happened, but instead, when she saw the look of pure disdain on her face, she relaxed. She believed the green Slayer when she said that she didn’t order Sarthis to attack her. Kana recognized the look in her eyes as the same as hers when she was trying to tell the squad that it wasn’t her in the military uniform.  
Kana put her hand on Demi’s shoulder. “I believe you.”  
Demi stared at Kana in shock. For a moment, all Demi could think about was the flash back of all of them as kids and how close Demi and Kana were. She wanted a friendship like that to last forever. She didn’t want it to die. But she couldn’t shake this torn up feeling inside that was screaming and warning her that Kana was evil. But she just didn’t know what was causing it. It wasn’t fair though, that Kana trusted her word and she hadn’t trusted hers. Demi hoarsely responded, “Th-thank you.” She needed to find proof that Kana was telling the truth or that she was telling a lie. She couldn’t stand this back and forth twisted existence. She needed to know.  
Tsuki stared at the two Slayers, relief flooding through her. Things had been looking grim for a moment between the two, but now suddenly, it seemed like everything would be alright. The two of them had just had a misunderstanding. It was cleared up now, so things were going to be okay, weren’t they? Tsuki started for Kana to take her into the cabin to get patched up, when she noticed Leah staring, her brows furrowed with questioning.  
Following her gaze, she realized that the smaller girl was watching the captain. Levi looked like a statue, frozen in time similar to what Leah had looked like before. His eyes were filled with a horror she had never seen in his expression before and they were locked on to Kana’s wound. Tsuki frowned and asked, “Captain Levi? Are you okay?”  
This made the others look over, but Levi quickly covered his face with his hand, his jaw clenching and he turned away. It looked, for a moment, like he was in more pain than Kana. Kana watched him carefully, wondering what was suddenly affecting him so much. He had seen her in worse condition, so the severity of the injury shouldn’t be bothering him. Was he upset that it had happened protecting him? Kana reached out, wanting to help him, but Tsuki touched her shoulder. “Come on. We seriously need to get you patched up.”  
As Tsuki escorted her along, Kana huffed, “I feel like I’m just burdening everyone.”  
Tsuki laughed and shook her head. “Kana. I think we all feel that way right now. Stop pouting. As soon as my energy is restored, first thing tomorrow I’m healing you up.”  
“Wait till the end of the day.” Kana told her. “You need to be at full energy, because I want you to practice with the fun stuff tomorrow.”  
Tsuki’s eyes sparkled. “Like what?”  
“We’re going to practice sending objects through time.” Kana told her. “If you can master that, then it will be a huge asset to us in battle.”  
Tsuki let out a happy squeal. “I am so ready for this.”


	81. Tearing Time in Two

"I think we're losing progress because Eren is getting worn out so fast. I think it would be in our best interest to ease off of him for a while. Maybe we should only do experiments once a week.” Hanji suggested. She and Levi were sitting in the dining room, discussing the recent orders from Erwin. Well, actually, it was a one sided conversation in which Hanji was talking to a brick wall. She knew what was bothering him and she was trying to get his mind away from it, but she couldn’t get it out of her head either. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen that wound.  
Hanji frowned when she got no response out of the captain. His gaze just stared, empty, at the table between them. She gritted her teeth and slammed her fists down on the table top. “Will you snap out of it!? It’s just conincidence so stop dwelling on it!”  
Levi glared up at her. “You’re smarter than that, four-eyes. That’s not a coincidence. I just don’t know what it means yet.”  
“Then stop worrying about it.” Hanji said. “It’s not like you to think harder on something besides your orders. Just do what you normally do and focus on the mission so you don’t overthink things.”  
Gritting his teeth, he ripped the papers out of her hands and stood, “Fine.”

Kana stood beside Tsuki with her arms crossed, watching the girl concentrate as hard as she could. Kana had placed a bucket in the grass and Tsuki’s goal was to move the bucket through time, preferably into the future so that they would see a jump in which the bucket didn’t exist. If she moved it to the past, then, theoretically, there should be two buckets. But Kana wasn’t sure how this would work being as she’d never delved into messing with time before. But so far, it didn’t matter. Tsuki was struggling to get anything to happen to the bucket or anything around it.  
Closer to the forest, Demi was working with Leah by using Sarthis to attack Leah’s shields. The training had been going for a few hours now. Kana sighed and asked Tsuki, “Do you want to take a break? Let your energy rekindle a bit.”  
Tsuki dropped her arms and sighed, looking at the blue lines on her forearms. “Am I doing something wrong? Why can’t I make my powers function exactly how I want when we’re not battling?”  
“You’re thinking and feeling different things when you’re in a fight. And with your adrenaline going so strong, its easier to link into your powers on a subconscious level. But they’re only helpful consciously.” Kana explained, her hand going to her injury. She was trying not to let it show, but it really was bothering her. Maybe she should have Tsuki go ahead and heal it.  
Tsuki was looking over on the opposite side of the field where the boys – and Mikasa, were discussing how to procede further with Eren’s experimenting. Hanji and Historia walked out as well, saying she thought it was about time for them to all take a lunch break.  
Tsuki giggled until she heard the sound of a blade landing in the ground. She looked over quickly, seeing that one of Sarthis’s weapon pieces had ricocheted off Leah’s shield and barely missed slicing Kana’s face open. Kana looked at Demi who didn’t seem to know what to do.  
Kana huffed, trying not to get mad. “Could you at least attempt to stop the thing from trying to kill me?”  
Demi shook her head. “He wasn’t trying to kill you. It was an accident.”  
Kana gritted her teeth. “An accident? He nearly cut my head off! You said you didn’t give him the order to kill me and I said I believed you. But something did and he’s obviously still trying to do it.”  
“Well if you had a weapon to defend yourself…” Demi challenged.  
“You fucking – “  
Tsuki gasped and stood up, shouting at Demi. “That’s enough! You guys started getting along yesterday!” She pointed to Kana. “I’m done with you two fighting all the time. I don’t know what the both of you have against each other, but enough is enough. So why don’t you just both apologize to each other and then move on! You both said yesterday that you want to be friends, so what is keeping you from doing that?”  
Demi looked away. “I just don’t appreciate her jumping to conclusions is all. I’m not trying to start a fight.”  
“You jumped to conclusions when you called me a traitor.” Kana retorted. No matter how hard she tried, she just didn’t like the vibes she got from Demi.  
Demi snarled at Kana, “If you weren’t being so – “  
Tsuki screamed at the top of her lungs. “BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND GO BACK TO BEING FRIENDS!!”  
Kana stared at Tsuki and she started to feel uneasy. The girl was really upset and she felt bad, but that wasn’t what was making her feel strange. Around her, things were starting to distort and she noticed that right in front of her hand, there was a break in the space around her. Like a vortex was opening up. Kana’s eyes widened, realizing that Tsuki’s hand was glowing silver.  
And then it clicked into place. She knew how Tsuki’s power worked. Kana gasped and shouted, “Tsuki! Stop! You’re – “  
All of a sudden there was a bright light and it filled up the entire field. A massive amount of energy exploded through the air, sending a shock wave that knocked all of them back. Tsuki let out a small scream, rolling to a stop when she hit a tree.  
For several minutes, there was nothing expect what sounded like electricity flickering and dying out. When it all finally cleared, Tsuki looked around. Everyone seemed to be okay. But what in the hell had just happened. She started to get up, but she realized she felt totally exhausted; like she had just run ten miles with no break and no water. She was dehydrated and dizzy and tired and…  
“Holy fuck, Tsuki…” Demi stood up, looking around. “You just ripped a fucking hole in time…”  
Tsuki panted, asking, “Is that what that was?”  
Hanji and the rest of the squad all ran over to them, asking if they were okay. An excited Hanji shouted, “Yow-zee! What was that huge blast of energy?”  
Demi smirked and patted Tsuki’s back. “Tsuki managed to finally break through time.”  
“I don’t know how…” Tsuki mumbled.  
Jean helped her remain standing when she looked like she was going to fall over. “But that’s a start. You did it.”  
“Except…” Leah mumbled. “You didn’t move the bucket.”  
It was then that Tsuki realized what she did. “Oh god…”  
Demi’s arms dropped. “You moved Kana.”  
Hanji and Levi both stared dumbfounded at the girls, as though they had suddenly started speaking another language. Hanji was the first to resituate herself and ask, “What do you mean…? You mean… you sent Kana through time?”  
Tsuki covered her mouth. “G-Guys… I-I don’t know where I sent her to. O-or how to bring her back.”  
Demi shook her head. “Don’t worry. We know that you can at least do it. No big deal. The real trick is going to be trying to figure out where – er, when – she is.”  
Hanji looked at Levi who was staring in shock at the ground. Suddenly everything made sense. More sense than it should. The injury, the lack of memory, the reason why that woman had been so adamant about not discussing where she came from. Levi’s hands clenched into fists. The red-head from six years ago, was actually Kana from the present. Why had he not put that together…?  
Hanji’s voice was hoarse. “This explains so much… including how she knew my name before I introduced myself…” Hanji looked at Tsuki and then clasped her hands in her own. “Tsuki… if we can tell you when Kana is… can you bring her back? As soon as possible.”  
Tsuki stared at her in shock. “How do you know…?”  
“You sent Kana six years backwards.” Levi stated, his voice rigid and guarded. “To our first expedition.”  
“H-How…?” Tsuki started. She was so confused. Did that mean they had already known Kana? Why didn’t they say anthing? Why did the two of them suddenly look so forlorn?  
Hanji gripped Tsuki’s hands a little tight. “Will you please… hurry…? Something terrible will happen if you don’t…”  
Tsuki stared at her for a long moment. “I’ll do my best. I’ll try to do the same thing. But… how am I supposed to move an object that’s not in front of me. Do I move myself and then both of us back? I… I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”  
Jean pulled Tsuki away just a bit. “Let’s let Tsuki get some rest first. She’s barely able to stand. That took a lot of energy out of her.” Jean carefully looped his arm around Tsuki’s waist as he escorted her to the cabin. Once inside, Tsuki’s legs gave out from under her and Jean gasped worriedly. “T-Tsuki?”  
She shook her head repeatedly, tears in her eyes. She hoarsely said, “What have I done? I don’t know how or if I can bring her back. What if I can’t? A-and that injury of hers…” She started coughing as she sobbed, the guilt hitting her chest like a hammer. “All because I can’t control my power…! This keeps happening.” Jean tried to wrap his arms around her, but she pushed him back, crying harder. “What if I send you somewhere, too?”  
Jean gritted his teeth. “I’m not going anywhere Tsuki. You can’t get rid of me.” He gripped her sleeve. “I will cling tightly to you no matter what happens. Now stop this. You need to rest and you’re only wearing yourself out more. I’ll carry you if I have to.”  
Tsuki sniffled, looking up at him. She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t feel better until she returned her best friend where she belonged. Jean gritted his teeth. Tsuki was clinging tightly to him, but she was sobbing and he felt like there was nothing he could do to help her. He held the precious jewel in his arms, being careful not to squeeze her.   
His eyes widened though, when her body fell limp. She leaned further into him and he gasped when she completely collapsed in his arms. He carefully lifted her up, seeing that she was breathing heavily and her skin was pale. He started to panic when he heard a voice. He looked up and saw Demi kneel beside of him.  
Demi quickly told him. “Don’t worry. She’s not dying or anything. Time Slayers use up massive amounts of energy that way. She’ll probably be unconscious for a while to raise her energy levels back up. But we have to make sure not stress her or exhaust her any further. If a Slayer’s energy drops to zero, they’ll suck all the life force from their weapon and they’ll both die. She’s fine now though. I sense that she’s at 10 or 11 percent. She’s going back up though.” She stood up and motioned for Jean to follow with Tsuki.  
He carried her to the room where Eren had been recovering the day before. He carefully set her down. It was foreign to him to see her bubbly composure gone and replaced with one of sadness and anxiety. Even in her rest, she looked like she was in so much pain. Jean’s eyes went back to Demi. Her gaze was darkened. She hastily ordered him, “Just leave her be. There’s nothing you can do except keep to your own tasks. She’ll wake up on her own.”  
Jean nodded, but didn’t leave after Demi did. Despite her words, he couldn’t leave Tsuki here alone. He had recently learned just how afraid she was of losing her friends. He wouldn’t let her wake up and risk being by herself when the sun rose.


	82. Stolen

Kana gasped when she landed roughly on a solid concrete structure. She rolled over, seeing that it was a little abandoned looking house. She had landed on her bad arm and now it was throbbing and her stomach wound was bleeding again. Damn. That was the last time she ever pissed of Demi. That injury, coupled with her left limb still tingling from Mizuki’s rejection, she was pretty sure she was done fucking things up for a while.  
She rested her hand on the injury on her gut. She could have avoided it, but it made her sick to her stomach when she imagined the weapon accidentally hitting Levi instead. It had been worth it. Slowly, she got to her feet and looked around. Now she just had to figure out what Tsukiko had done to her.  
How far into the past or future had she sent her? She jumped off the building and walked towards some of the people using the street side as a home. When they all gave her strange looks, she asked, “Can any of you tell me what year it is?”  
One of the older grungier men started shouting at her, “Are you harassing us you little punk!? I’ll teach you a lesson!”  
The other next to him growled, “Nah, I think she’s one a’ dem aliens…”  
A small kid that was on the other side of the street shouted, “I saw her fall from the sky. I bet she’s a surface dweller!”  
They all started shouting protests at her.  
Kana frowned and looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw no sky, but instead it was like she was in a giant cavern. Rock and dirt covered her way to the sky. Was this the underground district that everyone talked about?  
She tried again, “Can someone just tell me what year it is?”  
“It’s 844, are ya dumb!?” One of them yelled.  
Finally, a much calmer person commented, “I don’t think she’s dumb. She’s probably sufferin’ from bloodloss.”  
Kana’s eyes widened. She looked down at her stomach to see that blood was seeping through her bandages and now her shirt. That fall had really messed her back up. She cursed under her breath and walked on.  
Shit. So she went back in time several years. She went back to one year before the fall of wall Maria. Her hand went to her stomach. She needed to get some bandage or something. If she went back in time, she didn’t know if her Life-link with Mizuki would still work or not. She wasn’t really sure of anything right now.  
She stopped at a building where she saw a man handing out some merchandise. She stopped in front of him and asked, “Sir, do you know where I can get some medical supplies?”  
The old, hefty man looked over her and demanded shortly, “Do you have money?”  
Kana hesitated. “No. I don’t. I just need a spare bandage or two, please, I – “  
“Then no service!” He screamed in her face and then slammed the door. Kana could feel her breathing getting heavier. She was getting stressed out. She wasn’t even sure if Tsukiko could reach her back from the wrong time? This might be where she has to stay. That is, if she even lives long enough.  
She headed up a ramp, the helplessness of her situation starting to dawn on her. She collapsed against the side of a building and slid down, gritting her teeth. She was already starting to feel weak. “Dammit…”  
Before she knew it, the exhaustion took hold of her and she fell into a pit of darkness.

A chipper, girlish noise made her open her eyes again. A girl was leaned down in front of her. She had darker red hair in pig tails and green eyes. She was smiling brightly at her and teased, “You look like you’re bad shape.”  
Kana couldn’t help but smirk. “Oh yeah? What gave that away?”  
The girl laughed at her and held out a roll of gauze, asking, “Would you like some help?”  
Kana’s eyes widened. “Please… I don’t have any money, but I’ll do whatever I can to return the favor.”  
Again, she started laughing and told her. “I don’t want anything from you, silly. I just couldn’t walk by and let you die like that.”  
“Isabel. Don’t help complete strangers. You can’t trust anyone down here.”  
The girl responded with, “Oh, stop being so paranoid, Levi. Look at her, she can barely even move.”  
Kana’s eyes widened at the name and she looked over the girl’s shoulder. Two men stood: A tall one with blonde hair and –   
Her breathing seemed to stop. It really was him. Much younger, but it was still unmistakably her captain. She didn’t realize she was staring until he glared at her and demanded shortly, “What? Do you have a problem?”  
“Ah-“ Kana started but she was yanked to her feet by an excited Isabel.  
Isabel giggled and said, “Let’s get you inside and get that treated.”  
Within a few minutes, Isabel had taken her into a room in the back and was pulling off her blood-soaked shirt. But Kana’s mind was reeling. That was definitely Levi, but he obviously didn’t recognize her. Of course not. She was too far in the past before they had met. But it still made her heart ache. What kind of stupid idea did she have that their connection would transcend time?  
The sound of unwinding tape made her look back at Isabel. “Why are you helping me?” Kana asked.  
Isabel had been humming but stopped suddenly. She looked so childish that it made her smile. She looked up and pressed a finger to her lip. “I feel bad for people on the verge of death, I suppose. I should have died. But brother Levi saved me.”  
Kana couldn’t help the warm smile on her lips. As much as he tried to put up a tough guy exterior, Levi was so damn compassionate that it took her breath away.  
Suddenly, Isabel was in her face. She giggled, “What’s that look for? Hm? You looked like you were thinking about something happy.”  
“I suppose I was. I’m not from around here. I was thinking… about someone back home.” She confessed, trying to avoid lying as much as possible. This girl and her innocence just… she couldn’t lie to her.  
A little later, she and Isabel came back out to the main room. It had basic kitchen supplies and a small table in the middle where the two boys were sitting. Isabel had let her borrow a clean shirt while her blood-soaked one was resting in some soap and water. Kana felt uncomfortable though. The material was tight around her chest and shoulders because she was so much broader than the younger girl.  
The blonde boy smiled at them and asked, “Feeling better? What’s your name?”  
“Uh, Kana.” She replied. It was probably her imagination, but she thought she saw Levi react to her name, but it was nothing more than a glance in her direction.  
The guy introduced, “Well I’m Farlan, that’s Isabel, and this guy is Levi. We’re glad you’re feeling better. What happened by the way?”  
Kana scratched her cheek. “I had a bit of a falling out with a friend back home. We fight a lot, but it usually doesn’t get this bad.”  
“Ah, so you’re not from around here.” Farlan stated. “I didn’t think I’d seen your face before. There’s not many with red hair like yours. Isabel here is the closest I’ve seen.”  
At the sound of her name, the small girl stuck her tongue out.  
Levi grumbled suddenly, “If she’s all healed up, then send her on her way.”  
Isabel hugged Kana’s arm suddenly. “Aw, can’t she stay the night?”  
When Levi just glared, Farlan pitched in, “One night couldn’t hurt.”  
“We still have to get food and finding enough food for a fourth person will be a pain in the ass.” He growled.  
“Uh, I can get it. Whatever I need to do.” Kana stated. “I don’t mind. It’s the least I can do.”  
Isabel yelled at her suddenly, “Are you crazy?! You can’t go and steal food all by yourself!”  
“Sure I can. Where do I get it from?” Kana asked, “Or can I take it from anywhere?”  
The other two looked at Levi expectantly. He sighed and stated, “We usually steal from the bread maker down the road.”  
Kana nodded and pulled her shoes back on. “Give me an hour, okay?” She didn’t even wait for their response before slipping out the door.  
To her pleasant surprise, the bread maker Levi was referring to was the same guy that screamed at her earlier that day. She knelt down on the roof of the building across the street from his shop and waited. She should have been thinking about how best to get their meal without being caught, but instead, she kept thinking about Levi. There was no mistaking that it was the same person, but at the same time, he seemed completely different. She was used to the level-handed man that flawlessly lead his squad every day. This Levi was a lot angrier and more than just physically younger. She smiled a bit. He was closer to her age in this era.  
She shook her head of the thoughts. It’s only by chance that two people fall in love. She couldn’t even possibly consider the idea that they could fall in love in both eras? Her heart raced at the thought. She wanted it to be true though. She’d accepted that he gave her the strength to fight on and that would remain true no matter the place, or the time. Even if he didn’t know it.  
When the only customer in the store left, she jumped down to the street and peaked in through the window. She saw the man go through a door into what must have been the storage locker. She smirked. Too easy. She slipped in without a sound and went to the door. Using her nail, she was able to twist the lock into place and when she heard the pleasant click, she grabbed a basket and started helping herself to the display cases.  
After a couple minutes, she heard him banging and shouting against the door. “You damn hooligans! You have to pay for that! I swear! Whatever you take…! I will take back by force!”  
Kana frowned. So those three didn’t steal discretely, but openly? She frowned. Chances are when someone found the guy and let him out in the morning, he’d come after them. Oh well. She could stand guard for them for the night and take care of him when he showed up.

Isabel let out a happy squeal when Kana dumped the basket of bread on their table. She yelled, “How did you get so much!?”  
“I picked the lock when he went in the storage room. So I could take as much as I wanted. I just fished out of one display case. If there’s something you guys like better, I can get it next time.” She stated, but she realized that the three of them were already mercilessly devouring the food.  
Around the giant mouthful of food, Isabel told her, “This is great! I haven’t had so much to eat in forever.”  
Kana started to thank her for the compliment when she became aware of Levi’s gaze. He looked skeptical. Those brooding eyes knew there was something more. Around his bite, he challenged, “I’m guessing you were a criminal wherever you came from as well. Either this isn’t your first time stealing, or you didn’t actually steal.”  
Farlan gave Levi a coy smile. “Oh come on now, she’s being nice, so who cares how she got the food.” He fanned his hands. “Just enjoy it, Levi.” He turned, to Kana and said, “Sit down and eat, won’t you?”  
She blushed a bit and shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay.” Before she could turn to leave, Isabel grabbed her sleeve and yanked her down, sitting beside her.  
Without another word, she obediently joined in on the bread.

Once they were all done, Isabel asked, “So is it okay if she stays? She can stay in my room!”  
Levi glared at Isabel, not liking the idea and wanting to say no. When he started to open his mouth, Farlan reprimanded him, “Levi, don’t be so paranoid. What could she want to steal from us? Or what would a total stranger have to gain from hurting us. One night will be fine, won’t it?”  
Reluctantly, Levi gave in. “Fine.” But he stood up and walked to his room, shutting the door behind him.  
Isabel giggled, “Ignore him. He’s just overprotective.”  
Kana’s gaze softened and she whispered, “I know…” She gasped when Isabel yanked her up and dragged her to her bedroom.  
Isabel immediately started going through her little pile of clothes in the corner. “I don’t have a lot, only a few extra changes of clothes, but here you go!” When Isabel handed her the outfit, Kana quickly realized that it, too, was much too small on her. The wild little girl was sitting on her bed, laughing now. “Wow, your chest is much bigger than mine.”  
Kana blushed darkly and growled at her, “Don’t point that out!” She was trying to get the button done around her chest, but it wasn’t working. With a laugh, Isabel swatted her hands away.  
“Just leave it. No one’s gonna see you but me.” She lay down and patted the bed next to her. “It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to chat with anyone about girl things. There’s so much I wanna say…”  
Kana lay down, listening to the girl ramble about all the things in her life that she couldn’t tell the boys. She was an adorable girl and her heart immediately went out to her. She was only halfway listening until a line caught her attention, “…so I bet I can get Levi to let up and let you stay with us. I mean, how far away is your home?”  
Kana went quiet for the longest time. “It’s a long ways away.”  
“How’d you get here, then?” She asked curiously.  
“I don’t know.” Kana admitted. “It just… happened.”  
“That sounds sketchy. We need to come up with a better story if we wanna get Levi to let you stay.”  
Kana gave the girl a weak smile. “Look, you guys don’t need to go out of your way here. You’ve obviously got a thing going on and I don’t wanna come between you guys.”  
Isabel sat up. “I want you to show me your tricks! I wanna learn how to steal the good stuff. I feel so full I could explode! With your help, we can actually fill our stomachs. What do you say?”  
Kana smirked at her. She was getting so wound up that it made her laugh. “I suppose I can show you a few tricks. The biggest thing is just to not get caught. Sometimes you can set yourself up so you can take your time and get whatever you want.”  
Isabel rested her chin on her arms as she watched Kana. Her smile broadened and she asked, “So, was Levi right? Did you steal a lot wherever you came from?”  
Kana looked up at the ceiling while the smallish girl climbed under the covers. Kana watched her until her head poked back up from under the blanket. Kana sighed and whispered, “I used to steal a lot for my siblings back home. They were too young to fend for themselves, so their lives depended on me.”  
Isabel gasped and shouted, “Then you need to get back to them!”  
Kana gritted her teeth as a raw pain racked through her. She turned her head away as tears started to prick the corners of her eyes. Within moments, they spilled over and she turned away. “No, I don’t. I failed them… they… died a while back…”  
Isabel’s eyes widened, a frown on her lips. She scooted closer and hugged Kana’s back, nuzzling into the back of her shirt. “I’m so sorry, Kana-san… I didn’t mean to upset you…”  
“It’s okay…” Kana whispered. “I’m just still getting over it.”  
Isabel nodded, but she stayed clung to Kana’s back. It relaxed her. It had been so long since she’d felt someone sympathize for her and comfort her. Isabel’s hold was tight, as though she genuinely cared about Kana’s problem. But that was a silly notion. She was a complete stranger to this girl.  
But nonetheless, the idea soothed her right to sleep.


	83. Obliquity

Tsuki slowly opened her eyes.  
Her body felt so and achy. On top of that she felt more drained than when she had fallen asleep. She tried to move her hands, but they felt brittle, like they would break without the support of the bed underneath her. When her eyes opened up more, she turned her head, seeing Jean gazing at her. His melted chocolate eyes were wide with happiness and anxiousness. "Y-You're awake." He shot closer to the bed, his hand finding hers and holding it tightly. "How do you feel?"  
"Fine... I guess..." Tsuki mumbled. She wasn't sure what was going on. But she felt a weight in her chest, like something was wrong. She started to sit up when Jean carefully put his hands on her shoulders. She realized that more than anything else, his eyes were filled with worry and fear. "Don't get up, Tsuki. Hanji said that you need to eat and drink before you attempt to try anything. Don't even talk too much."  
"Just listen for a bit."  
Tsuki's gaze shifted to the other side of the bed where Demi was sitting on the cot next to her, her legs crossed. "Your ability took a shit ton of energy from you. I'm not sure that it would always take that much energy except that you literally turned explosive. You've been asleep for three days. Your body is malnurished and dehydrated. So you're going to spend today trying to get back to normal health, okay?"  
It took Tsuki several minutes to process what Demi was talking about. What power had cost her so much energy? And that was when she remembered. In the process of getting angry with two of her best friends, she had accidentally sent one of them hurtling into the past. Tsuki gritted her teeth. Her power was so uncontrolled. She hadn't meant to do it, but in the wake of getting upset, it had continuously screwed everything up. Again.  
Demi frowned at the look on Tsuki's face. She harshly scolded, "What is that look for? If you're seriously getting upset because this happened, then I'm going to stop you right there. I was the one that picked a fight with Kana. You were trying to stop us. It's not your fault that you can't control your power. I'm the one to blame for this little disaster and whatever comes of it."  
Hoarsely, Tsuki asked, "What if we can't bring her back?"  
Jean frowned. "Hey now. It's not like you to be pessimistic." Jean clasped her hand in his. "Cheer up."  
Demi sighed and leaned her hands back. "We have a lot of research to do." Demi explained. "Armin has come up with a few theories on how this all works, but everything is going to come down to whether or not we can open the portal back up." When Tsuki frowned deeply, Demi added, "But there's no reason to worry. It's not like she's dead. She's alive and waiting for us to find her. But there's an obvious reason I know that we'll be successful." Tsuki looked at Demi expectantly. Demi answered the look with, "It's simple. If we didn't succeed in bringing Kana back, then her six-year-older ass would be standing with us. So either way, we bring her back."  
Tsuki's eyes widened. That was right. If Kana got stuck in the past, then she'd rejoin them in this time, older. Wouldn't she? Tsuki's brows furrowed. But then wouldn't an older version of Kana been with them the whole time? Or would the events over the course of six years lead her elsewhere?  
The door opened up behind Demi to a smiling Leah. "Look. I brought sleeping beauty water and food." Leah set a tray of water, bread and soup on the mattress beside Tsuki. Leah scolded and told her, "Now hurry up and get better. I don't like seeing you mopey and exhausted. You're the bright and cheery one in the group, you know?"

Hanji was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her mind distant. Levi had spent most of the last few days with his head in his hands, sitting at the table. He hadn't spoken a word to anyone since Tsuki sent Kana back. Hanji cleared her throat and commented, "I think as soon as Tsuki is well enough to move, we should take her and Demi and go discuss this with Erwin. He'll want to know what we've discovered about the events six years ago."  
"There's nothing to discuss." Levi snapped coldly without looking up from his hands.  
Hanji frowned. "Yes there is, Levi. You remember what happened back then. If we can - "  
"Of course I remember what happened!" Levi shouted at her, lifting his head up enough to glare at her. "Don't talk to me like I fucking forgot."  
Hanji sat down across from him, but her words were more gentle. "I thought you'd moved on. But after what Erwin said in the hospital room, I started to toy with the idea that those two were one in the same as well. That they are is nothing but good news for us, Levi. So then why are you moping?"  
"Because..." Levi's voice was barely audible. "Because of what she's going to have to go through. If I'd known. If I had had any idea then, of what was going on now..."  
"Then what?" Hanji asked. "You'd have changed? Aren't you the one always spewing that no one ever knows what will happen? Did you honestly do something so bad that you'd take it all back?"  
"...You have no idea, four-eyes..." Levi mumbled, his gaze distant.

That evening, Jean felt much better, seeing that Tsuki was looking to be in better shape and the color was coming back to her skin. He handed her another piece of the potato he was peeling. "I'm lucky I got any of these away from Sasha. I saw her stuffing them in pocket before we served dinner."  
Tsuki couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. "Some things never change. I'm surprised the captain hasn't beaten her over it."  
Jean shrugged. "She's sneaky. That or everyone is like me and really don't care. We don't have a lot of supplies but as long as we don't run short, it's not a big deal. We're not supposed to go hunting, but it's not like the military police are going to come out here and kill us if we kill a couple animals to keep from starving."  
"They might." Demi stated, sitting back up from where she was laying in Eren's lap. "When we went into town the other day, even the stores were short on supplies. Especially because of the temporary fall of Wall Rose. It caused a brief but intense shortage. On top of that, I heard a lot of merchants say that they'd rather not go back to the other side of the wall. The civilians are unsettled. They don't know what was actually done as a precaution to be sure Wall Rose is actually safe. A lot of them thing the military just said that it was to keep from having to feed and secure the safety of so many people."  
"Well, that's partially true."   
All of them looked over as Hanji, Levi, Armin, and Leah walked in, bringing up chairs around Tsuki's cot. Hanji commented, "But what they don't understand is that people would have started turning to murder to satisfy their hunger. If we didn't do something, it would have literally become a civil war."  
Demi hissed. "People are ridiculous. They'll do anything to survive."  
"Can you blame them?" Jean asked. "It sounds selfish, but it's more than just human instinct. If you die, then that's it. There should be no greater priority than surviving. If you lose your home, you can still find another. If you lose your hand, you have a second one. If you lose your sight, you can still hear. So on and so forth. But if you die, that's it. There's nothing more you can do."  
"And it's at that point that hope is lost." Armin added. "As long as we're still breathing, we keep fighting. That's all humans know how to do."  
"I get that." Demi stated. "But I'm talking about the greater good. There's so few people that are willing to give their own lives in order for someone else to live. I guarantee that those refugees would do anything to keep living. If a little girl was eating a roll and they were seconds from death, a normal human would steal that roll so that they could survive instead. Us Slayers live and breathe to sacrifice our own lives in order to ensure that humans keep living on. Our existence is all about self-sacrifice while humans are bred to sacrifice anything else to attain what they want. I've seen it with my own eyes. There's a few humans who don't care what the cost is. As long as they come out on top." Demi's eyes darkened.  
Tsuki looked over at the green Slayer. Taking a bite of her bread, she asked, "Are you talking about Erwin?" She had remembered having a conversation with her after the battle to retrieve Eren from Reiner and Burtholt. It was true that Demi's feelings towards humans were indifferent, but she had expressly told Tsuki about how callous it was of Erwin to not only throw away hordes of Military police, but also the lives of half the Survey Corps to ensure Eren was brought back. It wasn't necessary. Demi could have done it all on her own, she had told Tsuki that day.  
"Of course I am." Demi glared at Tsuki. "Who just throws away peoples lives like that? It's like none of them matter to him. The whole point in fighting the titans is to ensure that humanity survives, isn't it? So then what is the point if we have to sacrifice our own humanity and the lives of those left to defeat them? We didn't even fucking kill any titans over it. Half of the Survey Corps were gone in one blow. Us Slayers could have retrieved him on our own, but Erwin doesn't trust us - "  
" - why is that?" Leah asked suddenly. "I've noticed that, too."  
Hanji put her hands up to silence all of them. "Enough. I don't always agree with the Commanders decisions either. But he does things I would never want to do. If the fate of humanity was left in your hands, what would you do? Eren is our hope. What if - and I'm not saying you are - you had turned out to be traitors? And we lost Eren? What hope would be left for humanity then? He may seem like a monster, but every decision he makes, he makes in honor of the greater good. He condemns himself to make the decisions that no one else wants to make. But I have no doubt that he doesn't always keep his eyes towards the future - to humanity's survival."  
Demi pursed her lips. "I would still consider him less than human."  
Hanji smacked her hands down on her thighs. "Speaking of the commander!" She looked to Tsuki who had be fervently drinking from her glass of water. "Will you be ready to go on a trip in the morning?"  
"A trip where?" Tsuki asked.  
"You, Demi, Armin, Levi, and I are going to make a run to the capital and discuss what's happened with Erwin." Hanji answered her.  
Demi shot a look to the squad leader. "Why? Aren’t you two high-ranking enough to make big kid decisions? What does it matter to him what the development is within the squad?"  
Hanji lifted a finger, a big ol' smile on her lips. "Well you see, it's our duty to send daily reports to the commander so that he knows exactly what's going on. But this situation is a little too complicated for a couple letters. That and a certain captain has been shirking on his duties the last couple days. So, I thought we should all go and discuss things with him face to face. Armin has a couple good ideas on the possibilities, and I think Erwin will have a few good ideas, as well. We'll decide, from there, what course of action to take and then proceed. After that, Demi and Tsuki will focus on trying to get back in time while rest of us will do more experiments with Eren. On top of that, I think the Commander has another course of action he would like us to start focusing on. A back up plan, if you will, in case we aren't ever able to get Eren to harden his titan skin."  
"What kind of back up plan?" Tsuki asked. "Like... another way to close up the hole in Wall Maria?"   
Hanji shrugged. "He hasn't given us the details yet. We'll just have to wait and see." She clasped her hands. "So do you think you're going to be up for it?"  
"Of course." Tsuki offered a bright smile. "And as soon as we're back, then Demi and I can start working on trying to open the portal back up."  
Jean frowned and shook his head. "You shouldn't overdo it. I know we're in a time crunch, but it doesn't do us any good if you get yourself hurt or run yourself out of energy. We need to take our time."  
"Don't be such a worry-wort, Kirchstien." Demi ordered. "I'll be watching out for her and making sure she doesn't do anything stupid or get hurt."   
"Alright..." Jean mumbled.  
Hanji stood back up. "Alright. If that's settled, I saw we all crash for the night. Then we can all get up nice and early."  
"Right." They agreed.  
Tsuki watched as most of them shuffled out of the room. She noticed that Mizuki was clinging tightly to the back of Levi's poncho as he walked out. She wasn't wailing like she was after Eren had lost control of his titan, but her eyes were still glistening with sadness as though she was still scared.  
When they were gone, Demi stood up. Tsuki clenched her hands on the blanket and asked, "Do you really know how to help me control my power, Demi?"  
Demi shook her head. "I don't have the slightest clue. But you did it when you got mad at us. So that's what I'm starting with."  
"Are you going to try and piss me off?" Tsuki asked. "Cause it won't work if I know that's what you're trying to do."  
Demi shrugged. "Come on. Give me more credit than that. I can get creative." She popped her back and headed for the door. "Let's go to bed Eren. I'm tired."  
"R-right." Eren got up and followed after her. As they walked, he asked, "You have some kind of idea of what you're going to do, don't you?"  
"Yeah. But... I need a favor from you." Demi told him. "And you're not going to like it. Or anyone else when they find out."  
"Okay..." Eren frowned, starting to feel sceptical. He wasn't sure how he felt about this.


	84. Long Way Home

The next morning, Kana woke up, rubbing her face. As soon as she did, her hand went right down to her stomach. The wound was hurting worse than it did yesterday. At the rate she was going, the possibilities of returning to her time weren’t even of consideration. Staying alive was going to be the challenge. Without her weapon, her wounds couldn’t heal themselves. She was now at an even bigger disadvantage than the humans.  
She started to sit up when she felt something against her side. She looked over, seeing that Isabel was curled up under her arm, using her chest as a pillow. When she had started to sit up, Isabel made a noise and scooted closer. Kana smiled. The girl was so damn precious. She leaned over and gently nudged her shoulder. “Isabel… wake up dear.”  
Isabel started to open her eyes when she heard a knock on the bedroom door and then it opened. Farlan had a tray of food in his hand. “Good morning you two. Hope you slept well. We have a little left over bread and some vegetables this morning so hope you two – “ Farlan stopped in his tracks when he looked at Kana and Isabel.  
It wasn’t until that moment that Kana realized the clinging girl had gripped her shirt, exposing a good portion of her chest. Isabel sat up quickly and waved her hands. “Farlan get out!” She squealed, smacking the tray of food back up into his face and spilling it everywhere. Isabel slammed the door in his face and looked back at Kana. “S-Sorry! I forgot he usually brings me breakfast in the morning!”  
Kana had her arm across her chest, a dark red pasted on her face. “Th-That’s okay…” She slid off the bed and slowly stood up. “A-Are my clothes clean yet?”  
Isabel sprang up. “I’ll go check!”

Farlan walked into the main area, his hand over his face and the spilled bread in his hand. Levi looked up at him from where he was sitting at the table. He demanded, “What’s wrong with you?”  
Farlan shook his head and put the food on the counter. “N-Nothing.”  
Isabel darted across the area and went to where Kana’s clothes were hanging up. She felt the fabric and frowned. It was still a little damp and the bloodstain hadn’t come out. She puffed her cheeks out and grumbled. “I don’t know what to do.” She looked at the two guys. “The stain didn’t come out.”  
“Who cares?” Levi snapped. “Give it back to her and send her on her way. We have things to do today anyway.”  
Isabel pouted. “But she’s gonna show me a few tips on how to get more food!”  
“No, she’s not.” Levi snarled.  
Farlan frowned at the smaller girl and said, “Look, Isabel, we’ve been doing just fine. You got your wish and helped her, now she needs to get back wherever she came from.”  
Isabel picked up the shirt and walked back to the bedroom. She stopped when she saw that Kana was leaning against the wall beside the door, listening. Her gaze was strained, trying to stay reserved. She held her hand out. “It’s alright if the stain isn’t out, Isabel. It’s good enough.”  
Isabel stared at her as Kana took the shirt from her hands and changed out of the one she’d given her. She pulled it up over her shoulders and told her. “I think it’d probably be better if I didn’t hang around, Isabel. They have a right to be paranoid.”  
“But..!” Isabel started.  
Kana put her hand on her head and said, “Isabel, you can’t just go around trusting everyone, okay? There are some bad people. You don’t want to create more trouble for Farlan and Levi, do you?”  
“No…” Isabel looked down defeatedly. “But it’s not like I just blindly trusted you. I just… felt like I had a connection to you or something…” She gave her a sad smile and touched her hair. “It must have just been because your hair was red.” She laughed.  
Kana smirked a bit and after buttoning up her shirt, she went back into the main area and to the door. Her hand went back to her stomach. She felt sick. She’d need to secure a decent amount of supplies to make it. Her first step would be getting to the surface.  
She leaned down to get her shoes but bending over pinched her wound and she dropped down to one knee. She gritted her teeth.  
Farlan had shot up and went to her side. “Are you alright? Is it your wound?” He turned and looked up at Levi who was still sipping his tea, watching them. She could see, through her red bangs, that he was ready to jump up and protect his friend if she tried anything. She couldn’t help but smile. Somethings about him would never change. He is as he always was. Farlan told him, “She’s in pretty bad shape.”  
Kana put a hand on Farlan’s shoulder and slid her boots on, shaking her head. “I’m fine. I don’t want to burden you guys any more.”   
Farlan caught her arm before she started to walk away. “Where are you going to go, Kana-chan?”  
Kana sighed. “I need to find a way to the surface.”  
“And from there?” Farlan pressed.  
“I don’t know.” Kana stated. “I don’t think it’s possible… but I’ll try to find a way back home…”  
“Which is where…?” Farlan kept trying. “Do you even have anywhere you’re planning to go to? Or are you just going to wander around? It’s dangerous out there!”  
Kana pulled her arm away and started for the door. “I’ll be fine.” As soon as she put her hand on the door, she was stopped again.  
“You can stay. Until your wound is healed at least.” Levi stated, looking away. “It’s not like you’re much of a threat injured like that anyway.”  
Kana glanced at him before resting her forehead on the door. She felt like nothing more than a burden. “If you let me stay, then I’ll make sure you guys never have to worry about food.” Her body felt numb. She really didn’t know where else to go. She didn’t know where her friends were in this time or what would even happen if she went to the surface. She could go to her aunt’s home, but chances are they wouldn’t believe her saying who she was and she’d be thrown out of there as well. Or maybe… they would know how to get in touch with a Slayer who could get her back…  
Farlan looked at Levi and asked, “What do you say?”  
“Fine. Just make yourself useful.” Levi ordered.  
Isabel, who’d been standing in the hallway, started jumping up and cheering. “Yay! Thank you so much brother!”

A couple weeks passed. Kana was sitting on the edge of the roof, looking at a small shop that was packing up for the day. They had a ton of left over fruit that they were carrying in a crate to the dumpster. Isabel was anxiously swaying beside her. Kana patted her back and asked, “You ready, Isabel?”  
“You bet!” With that, Isabel jumped off the building and took the long way around to come up on the other side of the guy. The guy immediately recoiled and demanded. “Who are you little girl?”  
Isabel put on her best pathetic child face and pleaded, “Sir… may I… have some fruit? M-My brothers and sisters… they’re all hungry. Please! We just need enough to make it through the night.”  
“You gotta pay for it!” The guy snarled.  
“But you’re just throwing it away anyway!” Isabel yelled. “I’m begging you to help us!” She gripped the guy’s sleeves but he just bellowed more curses at her.  
Without even a word from her, Levi and Farlan dropped down, running quickly into the shop. Kana followed, but her hand was still on her stomach. In the couple weeks, she hadn’t gotten any better and even her muscles were starting to cry from pain. She grabbed a couple handfuls of fruit and started back for the door when she heard a shout.  
“Damn you brats! You’re stealing from me! Get back here!”  
They all exchanged a look and bolted out. Isabel had grabbed some of the food from his crate and ran around him, meeting them all at the door. Without wasting another second, they were all running down the street.  
Farlan looked back as they ran and commented, “That was no better than our usual haul.”  
Isabel pouted, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep him distracted.”  
Levi scowled. “No, it was a long shot plan to begin with.”   
Although they were easily able to out run the merchant, they were all exhausted by the time they got back to the small building to enjoy their food.

Kana was in Isabel’s room, laying on the bed reading one of the girl’s books. She had taken an interest in the girl’s book stack – especially when she told her she couldn’t read. Most of them were torn, ratty books that could barely be read, but for some reason, she found a fascination with the few that she could. The ones that had survived time. She frowned when a yellowed page pulled away from the spine of the book she was reading.  
She looked over, seeing Isabel trot into the room. “You should come out and play cards with us sometime, Kana-san.”  
Kana gave her a warm smile and said, “I think it’s better if I just stay out of the way.”  
Isabel dropped on the bed and kicked off her shoes. “I know, brother can be pretty intimidating. But he really is a nice guy.”  
If Kana didn’t know any better, she’d probably find it hard to believe. But the words took her back to her time, with Tsukiko and all of her friends. She remembered the countless times he’d put his life on the line for them or put his undying trust in their hands. Despite his hard exterior, he was truly selfless and compassionate. It wasn’t his fault that he grew up in a way that prevented him being able to trust most people.  
Kana paused on another page as her mind drifted. It made sense to her now. His aggression towards Eren and his determination to make people carry their weight and do all they could. His entire life had demanded him to be cold to those he didn’t know. One mistake could cost anyone their life.  
A gasp escaped Kana’s lips when she felt the little red head wiggle her way up under her arm. She rested her head on her chest and rolled onto her side, looking up at the book. “That one’s in pretty crappy condition.”  
Kana messed with her pigtails before running her hand absently through her bangs. She mumbled, “Yeah, but this one has a pretty good story. It’s about a woman who goes from rags to riches.”  
“Read it to me.” Isabel ordered with a smile.   
Kana laughed softly and carefully made her way back to the first page. “Alright…”

Levi put his cup back in the sink and was headed to his room when he saw Farlan stopped in the hall. He was leaning against the door frame and peeking into Isabel’s room. Such behavior wasn’t like him. Shortly, he demanded, “What are you doing?”  
Farlan put a finger to his lips, signaling for him to be quiet and then waved him over. Reluctantly, Levi walked over and looked into the little slit of the door way, seeing the two red heads curled up together on the bed. Kana had been reading from the book in her hands until a restless Isabel asked, “Did your parents ever read you stories, Kana-san?”  
“Uh, not that I know of.” Kana whispered. “I never got much time with my parents.”  
Isabel frowned and asked, “Why not?” Then she asked, her voice suddenly sad, “Are they dead too?”  
“Most likely…” Kana confessed. “My parents didn’t want me. They dropped me off with my aunt and uncle one day and never came back. They did die. It was just me and my siblings after that. Until I made a few friends…” Her eyes were so full of sadness, Levi could even tell from where he was standing. She whispered, “But one little fight and you can suddenly lose everything.”  
Isabel touched Kana’s stomach. “Is there where you got this wound?”  
“She didn’t mean to.” Kana confessed. “And I wasn’t helping anything. We both just got really mad and this is how it turned out. Now I’m alone again.”  
Isabel sat up quickly and looked at her. “You’re not alone! You’ve got us.”  
Kana gave her a sad smile. “Isabel, I can’t keep mooching off you guys. I appreciate all of you letting me stay this long.”  
Isabel touched the bandages on her stomach. “But your wounds aren’t getting any better. And you always look like you’re in pain. I don’t want you to be alone as well…”  
Kana mussed the girls hair and told her. “I’m fine. I’m a big girl. You need to stick with Farlan and Levi, okay? Here in a few days I should probably start heading out. There’s a place I want to go see…”  
“Is it your home?” Isabel asked excitedly.  
“No…” Kana whispered. “It’s the place where my family died. I want to go back and pay my respects.”  
Farlan closed the door and looked at Levi who was lost in thought. Isabel had taken so quickly to the other red head. In fact, they looked like sisters. She had seemed much happier – all of them had. Food had been easier to come by and things weren’t as stressful. Maybe he was just being too paranoid. They had no reason to suspect her of anything. She stayed to herself, helped them with meals, chores, and anything else she could. He supposed there wasn’t really a reason to make her go back.  
Farlan waved his hand in front of Levi’s face. He glared at him until the blonde-haired boy asked, “Something on your mind, Levi?”  
“No. Nothing.” He snapped and walked on to his room. “Go to bed and leave those girls alone.”  
Farlan chuckled, “Yes sir.”


	85. Shaded Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhhh NSFW?  
> Just a heads up.

Tsuki, along with Demi, Hanji, Levi, and Armin - just as Hanji had told her - were all standing in Erwin's office. The Commander looked bored, but she could see the curiosity brewing just under the surface. There was a stack of paperwork left undone on the corner of his desk. Upon realization, Tsuki assumed this was because he was right handed and no longer weilded his right arm. It must be difficult for him to send out written orders. She assumed another soldier was taking over the duty of writing for him. But her gaze shifted to the rest of the squad. They were all out of uniform this time. She was wearing a white billowing blouse and blue shorts. Beside her, Demi was radiating hatred towards the man. Demi couldn't stand that Erwin, more so than anyone else, treated Eren and the rest of them as nothing more than tools. He was one of those men who looked upon everyone and everything as a simple means to an end. Maybe it was true that he could get more done than anyone else could, but that didn't justify the needless sacrificing of lives, to her. Or using them all as tools. Hanji was shifting anxious from foot to foot. She was curious as to what Erwins reaction would be to their news. Or if maybe he would have any theories to conincide with Armin's or if he'd have new ideas all together. So much was happening right now, she was getting more and more impatient. Levi, beside her, was staying quiet. He didn't even attempt to look in the Commander's eyes. He didn't feel it necessary to share this information with Erwin. Part of him didn't want the commander knowing that the two crimson haired girls were one in the same. But Hanji was right. They needed Erwin's permission to change their focus. Lastly, Armin's gaze was locked on Erwin. Unlike the others, he admired the Commander and his ability to make the necessary decisions to save peoples' lives. Had he not done some of the things that others would consider inhumane, then many more would have died by now. He felt honored to be standing here, prepared to discuss his theories and plans with the Commander. If a man like him acknowledged him, then he knew he would be filled with graciousness and pride.  
Erwin sat back in his chair and looked at Hanji whom had contacted him about this emergency update. "I hadn't heard from you all in a while. I thought perhaps you'd all been killed. So what is this emergency update about, Hanji?"  
Hanji glanced at Levi when the Commander mentioned that he hadn't heard from them. Hanji cleared her throat. "As you know from our reports, there had been a few issues between Demi and Kana, correct?" When Erwin nodded, Hanji continued, "Well, a recent fight of theirs lead to some... interesting developments. When Kana and Demi fought this last time, Kana had been training with Tsuki to practice moving single objects through time in order to help us fight. Getting anxious and intervening with Demi and Kana, Tsuki managed to accidentally send KANA through time."  
Erwin's eyes widened after a moment and then that stone cold gaze turned to Levi. There was no exchange of words and no continuation of the subject. It made Tsuki feel uneasy. She felt like her superiors had been keeping secrets from her for a while now, but now, it was right in front of her. They were all aware of something that they weren't sharing with the rest of the crew. She wanted to know. She was sick of secrets. This was her best friend and they didn't have a right.  
"Because of this." Hanji told the commander quickly, "We want to focus our efforts on retrieving Kana, sir."  
"Why?" Erwin asked coldly. "We know that we successfully bring her back. But we also know that it's about a year's worth of time. Is it not?" The burly blonde haired man looked to his shorter captain for confirmation. When he recieved nothing, his brows furrowed.  
Hanji put up her hands up in the air. "But what if the only reason Kana was brought back so quickly was because we - "  
"Quickly?" Demi snapped. "What is your version of quick? Because that isn't mine." Her eyes narrowed. "With all due respect, Commander, we don't have time to waste arguing about this. If it takes us a year to get her back, then it sounds like we're going to have our work cut out for us. If you need us for some other mission, then fine. But please let us focus on breaking through time while we're waiting."  
"Actually." Armin stated. "Just because Kana spent a year in the past, doesn't necessarily mean that it'll will be a years passage here."  
This made all of the other soldiers in the room look at the small blonde-haired boy. Armin straightened up under their gazes and explained. "There's no way, really, of knowing how it works until we try it. But depending how which theory of times' functions are correct, then it may change whether that is true."  
"Explain." Erwin ordered.  
"My first theory... justifies time as an object." Armin looked at Tsuki. "And if this is true, then your powers become suddenly a lot easier to understand. It's almost as though you give time a physical form. And you can move things in and out of it. If that's the case then, let's say you open up a time warp right now in front of us for six years ago. If you close that warp, then immediately reopen a new for five years ago, then only a few seconds have passed in our time, but if it's Kana that you moved through that warp, then a year would have passed in a second for her. That being said, it also explains why it spent so much more energy when you sent Kana back than when you were moving around small spaces when we were fighting Reiner and Burt. By morphing time into a physical object, you expend a lot of energy. The more time that passes at once, the more energy you use. You moved all of us around what... a day at most?"  
Tsuki nodded.  
"So not nearly as much energy was expended as it was when you moved Kana." Armin looked down. "Then again. If that theory is incorrect, then there are others that also make sense. If time is in fact a collection of infinite universes that move along side of each other, then there would be no way to go to another time because you would have to narrow down to the exact milisecond you moved her. Because any other would send you to another universe in which she wasn't moved to."  
Hanji put her hands on her hips and asked, "So what theory coincides with us actually remembering when Kana came to our time?"  
"Huh?" Armin asked, his brows raised.  
Erwin explained, "We didn't gain memories, nor were our memories altered when Kana was moved back six years ago. We've always known that she was there during that time. Which means that her transferring back to the past wasn't some haphazard accident. The future isn't being altered by her presence, it revolved around her being sent back."  
Armin's brows furrowed as he thought. "I don't know... I don't think that coincides with any of them. If its the first theory, then you should have gained memories. If it was the second one... then it shouldn't affect you at all. But... are you so sure that you've always had the memories? Maybe your minds were altered to believe that you'd always had them."  
"No." Levi said sharply. "They've always been there."  
Armin frowned and looked up at Erwin. "Then I'm not sure. Do you have any ideas, commander?"  
"I have a suggestion." Demi snapped. "Instead of just talking and theorizing, let's start practising and actually figure it out?"  
Hanji glared and hushed her. But to their surprise, Erwin sighed. "It would probably be for the best to just do that. What you Slayers choose to focus on is your business, but the plans were Eren that I instructed all of you to follow still remain in effect. Just keep me posted on what you find out. If I think of anything else, then I'll make sure to let you know ASAP."  
Hanji dipped her head. "Thank you, sir! We'll get back to work right away!"  
They all started to head out of the office after being dismissed but Erwin growled, "Levi. Remain here a moment."  
Levi's dark gaze turned on the commander, but he did as he was told. After the rest of them left the office, Tsuki looked up at Hanji and curiously commented, "Hanji-san... All of you have been keeping secrets from us. That's not fair. We're your squads so you should trust us."  
Hanji just sighed, so Tsuki pressed, "Why didn't you tell us - any of us - that you guys had previously known Kana?"  
"What would you have liked us to say? 'You look like and have the same name as a person we know from the past, but you haven't aged one bit and you don't have memories of us'. How did you want us to bring that up?" Hanji questioned.  
"We're Slayers." Demi retorted. "That wouldn't exactly be the most difficult thing to believe."  
With a frown, the squad leader told them. "I'm sorry. We should have said something. But the idea that it could have been the same person was nearly impossible to believe. We didn't know for sure what the situation was until the moment you sent her back. But... please try to be considerate." Hanji stated softly. "Six years ago was a bad time. For some of us, it was worse. Try to approach the subject tenderly. When we bring Kana back, we'll explain everything in full detail. Okay?"  
Tsuki nodded. She would be considerate. As long as they promised to start being honest.

Demi leaned forward, watching Sarthis curl up on the night stand in front of her. Beside her, Eren was sitting back, his hands in his lap, watching Demi with curious eyes. She had spent an hour now, trying to get Sarthis to talk to her, but since the day he had attacked Kana, he hadn’t spoken a word to his Slayer. Demi’s emerald eyes were flashing with annoyance in the moonlight that seeped through the window. She sharply demanded, “You owe me an explination, Sarthis! You attacked her without provocation! And I never told you to do such a thing. You shouldn’t be following anyone’s orders but mine!”  
She snake turned it’s head towards Demi. Without any words or any change in facial features, Demi felt like the snake suddenly glared daggers into her body. She knew better than to speak to her weapon like this. Her weapon wasn’t a servant. They were partners. They were supposed to work together to solve their problems. But what was she supposed to do when he wouldn’t even speak to her about anything? When her hand clenched into a fist, Eren clasped it.  
Their gazes met and immediately Demi felt relief. For some reason, that loving, concerned gaze of his brough her security and she couldn’t stay mad any more. Quietly, he suggested, “Maybe we should just drop it for now. He clearly doesn’t want to discuss it. I don’t know how the Slayer-Weapon thing works, but if he’s your friend and he’s upset about something, then maybe we should wait for him to talk.”  
“He was following someone’s order to kill one of my friends. I can’t just sit back and wait for an answer. I need to know now so I can know who’s endangering someone so important to me.” Demi growled, but she closed her eyes. Eren’s fingers ran up her arms and to her shoulders, carefully rubbing them. She felt her body fall limp under his hold and her muscles all gave into the sweet sensation of his hands. It was like magic, curing her of all her qualms.  
Eren carefully said, “You guys were arguing to the point of hurting each other. But you’re acting like – “  
“I feel so twisted up.” Demi cut him off suddenly, her eyes blank. “When Sarthis attacked Mizuki, I felt something weird. For a while now, I’ve been… thinking about my memory of us as children. How could we have been so close then and now so close to be enemies? When Kana is around, I get this sick feeling in my stomach that I’m in danger. Or that I’m going to die. But back then, we were friends. We were so close and it warmed my heart. I want to know what’s going on! I wanna know why! And in order to find out, we have to train Tsuki to use her powers. And that’s why… I need you to do this thing for me.”  
Eren’s gaze softened and then he looked down and away. “Demi… you know I want to help you. But after my failure in training… I don’t think it’s a good idea if I do. I think you should come up with something else.”  
“What else isn’t obvious?” Demi asked. “It’s pointless is Tsuki knows what we’re up to.” Her hands clenched tightly and her voice cracked. “This is the closest I have ever been to having my memories back, Eren. I need this. I need to know.”  
“What if I mess up?” Eren asked, his voice tight with emotion. There was nothing more he wanted to do than help her, but he had let so many people down. He’d failed to save his mother, his training corps squad, Marco, the first Levi squad, to catch Annie alive, to stop Reiner and Burt, his rescue mission had then cost them half of the survey corps. And now. Now he was failing to be able to harden his titan skin, as well as starting to lose control. What if the next time he took on titan form he hurt someone? What if it was Demi? He felt sick to his stomach. “Demi… I can’t… I can’t do it.”  
“What do you mean… you can’t do it?”  
“I’m scared. I’m nothing but trouble in my titan form. It’s too risky and I might kill someone. Come up with another idea. Please.”  
“Eren, you can control your titan. I’ve seen it. They’ve just been overworking you and that’s not your fault. It’s theirs. I know, if it was just this one time, that you’d remain in control. Besides, your titan would only do what pertains to your original goal. As long as you were focusing on that while you transformed, then that’s all your titan will do.”  
“No it’s not.” Eren argued. He squeezed her shoulders a bit tight. “The last several times I’ve lost control I’ve hurt people. I don’t want to hurt anyone any more. I’m scared, Demi. I’m just letting everyone down.”  
Demi turned to face him. The moonlight on his skin made him look softer, younger, and so frightened. It felt like they were both lost on their own little island, their fears the ocean, threatening to consume them entirely. She brushed her fingers along his cheek bones and she softly told him. “I’m scared, too, Eren. We’re all scared right now.”  
“I can’t risk losing you.” Eren told her. “You’ve captivated me from the moment I met you. You didn’t look at me like I was a tool or a monster; you never showed any fear to me. You looked lost like I was. I thought by following you, I could find my salvation. And I have.” His hands slid up to the back of her neck. “You’re my reason for fighting. When set a goal, ‘protecting you’ is always a part of it. Always.”  
Demi shook her head. “Idiot. I’m the one that is supposed to protect you.”  
“We can protect each other.” Eren whispered, his tender, barely audible voice falling on her lips.  
“Then we have to trust and help each other, no matter what.” Demi told him. “Please help me. I promise I won’t let you lose control…” Her eyes widened a bit when she felt him slowly starting to lean back. She gripped the green fabric of his shirt and held herself over him.  
The brown locks of her hair fell around his face, mixing with his own on the mattress. Her gaze softened and she leaned down. Their lips met so tenderly she wasn’t even sure it would be considered a kiss. But it felt like an energy stronger than her own Slayer energy was melting off of his lips and onto hers. It had her body trembling with desire and her heart speeding out of control.  
Her lips slowly started to apply a little more pressure with each moment. Eren accepted her lips, but his hands were shaking against her body. She could feel it. He was so scared. What had him so afraid? There was nothing to be scared of. Demi pulled back an inch and softly asked him, “Eren…? Are you okay?”  
There were tears in his eyes and he looked away. “What if… I lose control now? What if I hurt you?”  
Demi stared at him, her green eyes blank before softening. She gently scolded him, “Eren, your fear is totally unreasonable now. You’re not going to turn into a titan while we’re in bed. That’s ridiculous.”  
“Is it?” Eren asked. “I changed into a titan reaching for a spoon.” Eren told her sharply. His eyes widened when Demi reached for his hand and brought up to her lips. She gazed at the bite marks. Her finger softly traced the tiniest hints of where he’d once bitten himself to try and transform. It pained her to see the self-inflicted injuries and she longed to take them away.  
Demi whispered, “I’m not afraid of you, Eren. So stop being afraid of yourself.”  
Eren swallowed hard and watched as she slowly sat up, her hips were pressed down on his. She clasped either side of her shirt within dainty fingers and pulled the fabric up over her head, revealing a thin pink lace bra that barely covered her chest. Eren felt his body go rigid and he lost his train of thought for a moment.  
Was such a beautiful woman really sitting on top of him? Was this actually happening to him? His throat tightened up as she leaned down, her lips dancing along his neck and shoulder. He forgot how to breathe entirely. His hands found her hips and he softly pushed up against her.  
He was answered with a noise of pleasure against his collarbone and he grunted. He tried to reign in his thoughts, but she had them spinning out of control. He forgot about his fears and his titan abilities – or lack there of.  
Sitting up, he kept her in his lap, his fingers running over her silky smooth torso. He cupped her breast, earning another gentle moan and turning him on more. His shirt was off within seconds and he flipped the two of them, pinning her carefully down to the bed.  
He nipped and kissed along her her torso, leaving a few love marks in his wake. He pulled back, his gaze clouded with emotion and he sweetly asked, “Are you sure you want this?”  
Demi nodded carefully, too consumed with emotion to speak. She ran her nails down his now bare back before pressing her face to his shoulder. His hands found the hem of her pants and softly worked them down. The sound of the fabric hitting the floor made her skin crawl with pleasure. She wanted to hear it repeated until there was nothing left but their skin.  
It felt like her body was a storm, raging wild and free. With or without her memory, she knew she had never felt anything like this. This overwhelming emotion that nearly brought tears to her eyes. Her world was spinning out of control, but Eren was ancoring her down to her own life. This man who thought himself to be a monster, was her guiding light.  
He was leading her through the darkness.  
Once Eren had his pants kicked off, he pressed his body down against hers. It was about to happen. The very thought of it had her pulse quickening. She felt her stomach start flipping. She had never wanted anything more. Every time she gazed upon this man, she fell in love with him all over again. His green eyes, when upon her, were never void of concern, protectiveness, and affection.  
She felt like their souls were linked on a level beyond what words could explain. A gasp escaped Demi’s lips when she felt his fingers loop through her panties and slipped them down her legs. Her hands ran down to his hips, doing the same with his boxers. She could feel his hands memorizing every inch of her legs.  
Once their clothes were all discarded to the floor, they rolled around for what felt like hours, tangling themselves of up in the sheets and rubbing every inch of their bodies together. It was turning her on and she was resisting every moan that bubbled to the surface. The last thing she wanted to do was be loud enough that someone else heard them.  
But it was almost too much for her when she felt him brush between her legs. Demi made a noise and then looked up at him. Her eyes were full and wide, almost desperate for him to end the torture. Eren’s gaze was still soft and he kissed her tenderly.  
While they kissed, Demi rolled him to his back, her hips hovering over his. She quietly whispered, “I love you, Eren…”  
They both let out a noise when she lowered herself down and she felt him fill her up. She gripped the sheets on either side of his head head and his hands locked on her hips. For several moments, they both remained still, panting and gasping with pleasure. Demi was almost too dizzy to move, but when Eren pushed his hips up, her body followed suit.  
Demi covered her mouth, desperate to keep the moans down. They desperately wanted to break free with each thrust inside of her. She felt like her life was finally given meaning. She loved this man more than life itself. He’d welcomed, accepted, and cared for her. He gave her something no one else had, and now here he was, giving her more.  
His movements were getting faster, his face contorted into a lovely cross of esctacy, desire, and love. It made her heart swell with longing. She had been nervous, at first, to let this man in her life this way, but now that she was at her most vulnerable, she was glad.  
He was cradling her broken life in delicate hands. She didn’t regret it. She’d made the right choice. As she gyrated her hips on his, the pleasure was becoming too much. Their love was coming together too quickly.  
She felt a layer of sweat on her body and his as he sat up. He kissed her breast softly before working his way up her neck, over her chin, and onto her lips. He kissed her passionately and wildly, his thrusts going in deeper. As she went down on him, she felt herself coming so unbelievably close.  
With a hoarse voice, she warned him, “E-Eren… I-I’m…” She kissed more deeply as she finished, “I’m going to cum…” Her grip tightened on his shoulder. Her words prodded him on faster.  
Before she knew it, the pleasure swept her away like a torrent of wind and she felt her release escape her. A louder moan than she’d intended left her lips and filled the room. Eren gritted his teeth before his release matched hers. He kept an arm around her hips, holding himself up on the other. He panted, “D-Damn… Demi…”  
Demi panted as well, all but collapsing on top of him. “Eren… that was…”  
“…amazing…” He finished for her. “Th-Thank you… I-I feel… better now…”  
“Good.” She whispered, leaning up and kissing him tenderly.


	86. A Cold Warmth

Kana and Isabel were running a few paces behind Levi and Farlan. Shortly behind them was a pissed off marketer. They’d had a plan set up, but like the last several times, Isabel was too loud and kept blowing their cover. Isabel whined while they ran. “I’m sorry! I promise I’ll get better!”  
Kana smiled at her while they ran. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it. We just need to practice with you moving more slowly and quietly.” She glanced over, seeing a group wearing uniforms. They had bats and other weapons in their hands. The first one threw a knife and Kana caught Isabel’s arm and pulling her out of the way just in time before she was hit with the weapon.  
As the guys ganged up on them, she dropped down, elbowing the first guy in the gut and flipping him over her shoulder. Once he was on his back, she stomped on his face and spun, kicking the next one in the face. Her body had bent to get her leg up high enough to hit him and the movement made her injury pinch. She gasped and her hand went to her stomach as another guy flew towards them. She went to intercept between him and Isabel, but before the guy got to her, another person jumped in front.  
Levi stabbed the guy in the shoulder and then kicked him back into the next man. He turned and snarled, “Let’s go.” His hand brushed her mid back, prodding her along. Kana’s eyes widened for a moment. It was just a touch, but his fingers were strong but yet gentle. He pushed her up to her feet and she realized that he kept himself between them and any of their pursuers.  
A few came at them from the side, but Isabel landed a few solid punches, laughing as she jumped up and kicked them over. Farlan scolded her for not taking things seriously and dragged her along.  
They made several corners and wound up in an alley a ways away. They finally rested a moment, all of them panting and breathing heavily. Kana leaned against the wall and looked over as Isabel started laughing. Levi glared at her and growled, “There’s nothing funny about this, Isabel.” He sighed and asked, “Are you alright?”  
“I’m fine.” Isabel patted Kana’s back. “Those were some sweet fighting moves. You’ll have to show me some of those too!”  
Levi glanced at Kana who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him. He had to admit, for having such a deep injury on her stomach, she had moved well. Her reaction time was fantastic. He found himself curious as to how well she would fight if she didn’t have that wound. He smirked a bit. Maybe he’d find out one day. His gaze went down to the injury.   
Even though they didn’t have a lot of medical supplies, he thought that three weeks was too long for that wound to be taking to start healing. In fact, it didn’t look like it was starting to heal at all. Every time he noticed, it was still bleeding. Just how bad was it? He noticed that Farlan pulled her up, her arm around his shoulders to help her walk.  
“Let’s get back home.” Farlan ordered.

Once they were back and sitting around at the table, eating, Levi growled at them, “Today was another close call.”  
Isabel put her hands up, her mouth stuffed with bread. “I’m so sorry! I’ll do better, brother, I promise!”  
Levi glared at Kana and said, “I think we need to go back to our old system. This one is more dangerous.”  
Kana looked away. He very clearly disapproved of her and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, it made her heart ache. It didn’t matter what era they were in, he was still Levi and she still hated the idea of him disapproving of her.  
“It’s my fault!” Isabel yelled. “It’d be more efficient if I was doing better! So just gimme another chance! We can – “  
Kana put her hand on Isabel’s shoulder and said, “Isabel, Levi’s right. Your safety is more important than splurging with food. If your old system was working, then don’t push it so much. Or if need be, I can go on my own to get more food.”  
“I’ll go with you so I can learn!” Isabel told her.  
Kana glared at her playfully. “That’s enough, Isabel.”  
“But you can’t go alone, you’re hurt!” Isabel puffed her cheeks, glaring up at the other red head.  
Farlan, through a mouthful, commented, “Speaking of. It doesn’t seem to be getting any better. It’s been a few weeks. I don’t think it’s healing properly. While you’re out, I would look into getting better medicine.”  
“I will. But I’ll be fine. I’m just a slow healer.” Kana lied. She picked up her empty plate and set it in the sink. “Is it alright if I wash up?”  
“Yeah. You and Isabel can go first tonight.” Farlan told her.

Kana leaned against the wall, panting as steam filled the air. Her hand was on her wound that was bleeding even worse due to the moisture in the air. It was causing the muscles in her torso to spasm roughly and her whole body hurt. She couldn’t last in this world like this. She kept trying to call out to Mizuki, but as she expected, she couldn’t even get a response. She was in the wrong era. She hadn’t connected with Mizuki yet.  
She washed herself up in the bath, but the water quickly turned red. She put pressure back on her wound, panting as she pulled herself up. She stumbled through bandaging the wound back up after treating it with ointment. All she could do was keep it from getting worse. Why couldn’t her body heal like normal?   
Dammit, why couldn’t she be human?

She pushed open the door to the bedroom. Isabel looked up from her books, seeing Kana leaning on the door. She shot up and helped her to the bed. “Kana-san…? You look like you’re in so much pain…” She looked down at her stomach and lifted her shirt up a bit, seeing the red already seeping through the wrap. “You just redressed it and its already bleeding through again. H…How deep is this wound, Kana-san?”  
Kana gave her a skeptical look. “It’s… kinda deep.”  
Isabel glared at her. “You’re overdoing it. You should rest tomorrow. I’m going to go get food instead of you.”  
Kana caught her arm and shook her head. “Isabel, don’t. I’ll be fine.”  
Isabel shook her head more. “I don’t want Kana-san to hurt anymore! I’ll fix you! I’ll get food and go get more medicine like Farlan said!”  
“Stop it.” Kana scolded. “You need to just stick with them and do as they say. A pharmacy isn’t like a merchant store. It’s a lot more secure.”  
“I can do it! Kana-san showed me how to do it well!” Isabel pointed to herself with a big smile. Kana felt her heart breaking. This girl was so precious and so anxious. She reminded her of home. She had Demi’s spunk, Tsuki’s compassion, Leah’s innocence, and… her own determination. She was one of those few perfect beings.  
Kana wrapped her arms around the little girl and pulled her to her body and fell back on the bed. Isabel giggled and whined, “Kana-san’s chest is too big to lay on.” Kana couldn’t help laughing so hard. They both climbed up on the bed and curled up under the covers. The tiny red-head scooted closer to Kana, nuzzling against her collarbone. She whispered, “Will you stay, no matter what? I’m happy with Kana-san here… It’s warm… and nice…”  
Kana smiled sadly and ran her hand through the girl’s hair. “I’ll do my best, Isabel.”

Farlan and Levi looked up when a happy Isabel strolled through the main area and slipped her boots on. Farlan asked, “Where are you going?”  
Isabel put her arms up behind her head and answered, “I was gonna go to the south district. I wanna work on some of my moves!”  
“Stay away from the marketing sector.” Levi ordered. “They’re on the hunt for us since we’ve been getting away with more. Maybe we’ll get another job soon and things will calm down. But for now stay away from there. We have enough food for today.”  
“Okay, brother.” Isabel giggled and headed out.  
Farlan sipped at his drink. “She sure is chipper this morning.” After a while, Farlan got up and stretched. “Speaking of jobs, I’m gonna go into town and see if there’s anything new.”  
Kana shifted awake and realized that her whole body was sore. She lifted her shirt, seeing that the blood had gone through the bandage again and through her shirt for the hundredth time. If she was a regular human, then she would have died of blood loss. She didn’t know how long, as a Slayer, she could go.  
She changed her bandages and put on Isabel’s shirt. She still couldn’t get the top button done and it was driving her nuts. She blushed darkly. She would just have to deal with it like this. Shyly, she walked out of the room and inched her way down the hall, hoping she ran into Isabel before one of the boys. She peeked in the main area and saw Levi drinking his tea as usual, but she didn’t see Isabel anywhere.  
“What are you doing?” He snapped at her.  
She flinched and whimpered, “I was… looking for Isabel…”  
“She and Farlan went out. They’ll be back.” He told her, pouring himself a fresh cup. After a moment, he got up and turned his back to her. He got down another cup and filled it as well, setting it on the other side of the table. He ordered, “Sit down. I won’t kill you. Unless you give me a reason to.”  
Kana’s cheeks were a dark crimson and, shifting about nervously, she crossed her arms over her chest and sat down, feeling awkward. This was her first time being alone with this era’s Levi. She didn’t even know how to begin talking to him. He sat down and gave her an awkward glare. “Why are you sitting like that? You look like an idiot.”  
Even more embarrassed than before, she mumbled, “Isabel’s shirts are small. They don’t… fit me…”  
He glared at her a minute before getting up and walking down the hall. She watched him a minute, afraid of what he was doing, but she just reached out awkwardly with one hand to take a drink. Her other arm stayed around her chest, hoping to keep from exposing herself.  
When he came back out, he threw a shirt at her. Instinctively she had caught it and then gasped when she felt the cool air across her sternum. She covered herself back up and asked, “I-Is this yours?”  
“Yes. Farlan’s would probably fit better, but he’s not here and I’m not going to just take his clothes.” Levi told her. “Now put it on and stop bitching.”  
Kana hesitated. “I… can’t. I might… get blood on it. I don’t want to ruin it.” She was staring down at the thin white button up shirt. She knew that she’d most likely ruin it within the day.  
So it surprised her when he said, “Just put it on. I don’t care.” His gaze was hard on her, but for a moment it seemed to ease up. He asked, “Your wound is still bleeding?”  
Kana pulled the shirt on over Isabel’s. It was still a little snug, but she was able to button it all the way up. She mumbled, “Yeah… b-but not as bad. I think it’s getting better.”  
Levi glared at her before going back to his drink. He fell silent for a while and she shifted uneasily. Her gaze kept going back to him. It was strange for her, not knowing what to say to him. With her captain, she could always speak her mind, and knew what to say. Now, she was so afraid of every word that left her mouth; scared she’d upset him and make him angry. They had nothing to talk about, no connection. This was the same person she loved so much, but at the same time, he was completely different. He looked exactly the same as her captain – younger of course – and there was a lot less stress and worry in his eyes.  
She jumped a bit when he commented, “Isabel has grown pretty attached to you.”  
Kana’s eyes softened. “Ah, I know. Sorry. I keep telling her to listen to you guys but she – “  
“Just don’t betray her.” He ordered sharply. “If you do anything to hurt her…”  
Kana’s eyes softened with sadness. “I would never even think about it.” Her smile saddened as well as she whispered, “You’re so caring…”  
“I – “ Levi started.  
The door opened and Isabel and Farlan walked in. He was scolding the smaller girl, “ – can’t believe really did that.” He looked at Levi and Kana and growled. “Guess who I just found coming back from exactly where you told her not to go?”  
Isabel had scuffs and scratches all over her but she was laughing, “Look, Kana-san. I got that medicine.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and she shot up, “Isabel! I told you not to!”  
Farlan sighed. “Luckily it wasn’t too bad. We got away pretty easily. But it was reckless, Isabel.”  
Kana sat back down as Isabel walked up to her and handed her the medicine. She said, “I know you told me not to, but I couldn’t help it. It looks so bad…”   
Kana grumbled about her worrying too much when she happened to look back at Levi. His glare had gone back to being hard. He was pissed that Isabel had endangered herself for her sake. She took the medicine and went to the bathroom. She growled, “Thanks a lot.”  
Isabel frowned at Kana’s sudden anger. “K-Kana-san? Are you mad? I’m sorry! Let me help you!” She gasped when Kana shut the bathroom door on her. “I messed up…” Isabel looked down, her green eyes glistening with tears. “I-I just wanted to help… I wanted to prove that I’m not useless.”  
Farlan looked at the small girl worriedly. “Isabel, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Everything is fine how it is. Just don’t put yourself in dangerous situations.”

Kana walked into the bedroom later that night, still running the towel through her hair. She glanced up, seeing Isabel curled up on the bed, her head buried against her knees and her shoulders shaking with sobs. Kana walked slowly up to her. Levi’s shirt was loosely done up and hung just past the end of her black shorts. She climbed onto the bed and pulled the tiny red-haired girl into her arms. “Isabel…”  
Isabel immediately turned to her, gripping her shirt and squeezing against her. She was crying harder now, “I’m sorry! Don’t be mad at me Kana-san! I just wanted to help!”  
Kana fell on her back, the girl curled up on her chest. She was rubbing her face against the fabric of her shirt, getting it wet with her tears. Kana ran her hand down her back and through her hair as she whispered, “Isabel… I’m not mad…”  
She lifted her head a bit and sniffed, “You’re not?”  
“No. I know you just want to help.” Kana whispered. “I appreciated it.”  
She made a tiny little hiccup-like sound and rubbed her eyes. “Brother is mad at me though.”  
She mussed her hair and whispered, “I’m sure he was. That was reckless. What if you’d gotten seriously hurt?”  
“Like you are!” Isabel yelled, her eyes puffy from crying. “You’re hurt really bad, Kana-san… You hide it like brother does, but I see it. I don’t want Kana-san to hurt anymore.”  
“I’m not hurting.” Kana told her. “I’ve got the best nurse in the world taking care of me.”  
Isabel shook and suddenly exploded with more tears, wrapping her arms around her and nuzzling her head into Kana’s chest. “Kana-san is the best! Thank you! I promise I won’t do stupid things anymore!”  
“Good girl.” Kana sat up, stroking her hair. “Now get some sleep.”  
“Will you read me some more of that book?” Isabel asked hopefully.  
Kana’s gaze softened. “Yeah. I will…”


	87. Loosen

“It’s been a week and nothing has changed.” Mikasa commented. She, Eren, Jean, and Armin were sitting on the storage barrels. Demi and Tsuki were sitting out in the open area in front of the cabin, working with their powers. So far, very little had come from Tsuki’s ability. She had stated she’s successfully shifted time by about a day or so, but neither a direct object, or for an extended amount of time.  
Jean rubbed his head and sighed. “I know. Tsuki’s been so upset about it. She’s trying her hardest and its bothering her that she doesn’t feel like she’s making any progress. And Leah has been doing exceptionally well.”  
Eren put a hand on his hip and arched a brow. “Amaak and Tsuki get along right? Leah was struggling at first because she and Djovaak weren’t getting a long well. So what’s Tsuki’s excuse?” His voice was a little sharp.  
Jean narrowed his eyes at the titan boy. “What do you mean, excuse?”  
“I mean, it looks like she’s not trying very hard.” Eren commented. “Maybe she’s just trying to get attention. That’s what it looks like to me.”  
Jean whirled on him and snapped, “You can’t be serious…? Are you really saying that?”  
Eren shrugged, flicking his hand. “I’m just saying what no one else is willing to. Usually you’re the brutally honest one, Jean, but when it comes to Tsuki, you’re missing the obvious.”

Tsuki dropped to the ground, resting her hands on her knees. She felt a layer of sweat clinging her shirt to her body and she was panting hard. Gritting her teeth, she punched the ground. “Why am I struggling so much!? Amaak and I are both on the same page… but I feel like… I’m just failing…” She looked up at Demi, her sea colored eyes swirling with emotion and the glistening threat of tears. “Demi… I can’t… I don’t think I can bring her back home. I screwed up.”  
Demi watched her friend in front of her. Her arms tightened under her chest and she snapped, “What is this nonsense? Aren’t you the group cheerleader? What good is it if you’re on your knees giving up? You’re better than this. Now get up and lets try again.”  
“Help me figure out what I’m doing wrong!” Tsuki begged. “Amaak doesn’t know either! He says that he’s having issues understanding my orders. It’s like I’m speaking a language he doesn’t know!”  
Demi knelt down. The grass was still a little wet, despite the sun having been in the sky for hours. She could feel the sadness pouring off of Tsuki like waves of water crashing around her. With narrowed emerald eyes, Demi demanded, “What are you really thinking about? What do you feel?”  
“I’m scared…” Tsuki whispered. “I’m scared that I can’t fix my mistake.”  
Demi shouted, “Liar! I’m the master of seeing through lies, now spit out the truth! What are you really thinking about? I don’t care how selfish it is, just telling what’s on your mind.”  
Tsuki felt her body shuddering. Her voice cracked, “I’m thinking about… that…I wish I wasn’t such a screw up. And I wonder if that’s the reason my parents didn’t want me…”  
Demi’s eyes widened a bit.  
Tsuki closed her eyes tightly. “I should be thinking about how to use my powers and go through time, but instead my mind is consumed with if this is why I was abandoned! Did my parents know about my powers and decide I was too much of a hastle? Did I do something to them?” She looked up quickly. “Did I send them through time, too!? Am I stranding everyone close to me? Who’s going to be next? Demi, I – “  
Demi gripped Tsuki’s shoulders. Her gaze was filled with kindness for her dear friend. She assured her, “Tsuki. You’re not a maniac. Your powers aren’t as out of control as you assume they are. You’re struggling to even activate them. We need to get you to a point you can use them before you should even be worried about if you’re going to send someone else to another time. Okay? Trust us. We’re not going anywhere.”  
Tsuki gritted her teeth. “Jean said the same thing.”  
Demi rolled her eyes. “Gross, I agreed with the horseface?”  
A sharp giggle escaped the blue Slayer and Demi looked back at her. Tsuki sat back on her rump, her legs tucked underneath her. “You guys are so mean, always harassing him about that.”  
Demi cocked a brow. “And… that’s why you’re laughing along?”  
Tsuki smiled. “I think he’s attractive. “And… he is sturdy like a horse. I don’t think anyone could hurt that poor guy. He just takes the hits and keeps on going. I admire him. He’s always got that strong look about him. He helps me… more than he’d ever know…” Tsuki stared at the grass as it drifted in the wind. Her mind wandered to how he’d convinced her she wasn’t a bad person for having an affair with him while dating Reiner, he’d shaken her from her stupor after Reiner’s betrayal. And the last week or so, he was constantly reminding her that she was strong and that she’d get it. They had time. This wasn’t a race.  
But Tsuki feared because of the look in Hanji’s eyes. She had said something terrible was going to happen if they didn’t hurry and bring Kana back. She wanted to hurry. She wanted to prevent whatever disaster Hanji was talking about.  
Demi was staring at Tsuki, but there was a cocky look on her face. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how to describe that look. Her lips were pressed in a hard line, but her eyes looked as though to be toying with her. After a moment of awkwardly watching each other, Demi asked, “Does he ride like a horse, too?”  
Tsuki gaped, her face erupting in shades of pinks and red. “Wh-what!? Why are you – “  
“I heard you two the other night.” Demi’s face worsened. And now Tsuki recognized it as a look of perversion and torment. She leaned forward. “So do you treat him like a horse in bed every night or was that just a special occasion?”  
Tsuki gasped and yelled at her, “I-I heard you and Eren, too! D-Don’t act like what Jean and I are doing is weird or anything! A-And you’re louder than I am! Pervert!”  
Demi started laughing so hard that her stomach hurt. “Damn right I’m louder. Cause Eren’s a better pleaser.”  
Immediately, Tsuki’s brows furrowed at the challenge. “Excuse you? I don’t think so. Not in a million years.”  
The conversation escalated from there, but as the two girls teased each other, the tension in the air evaporated. This foreign feeling was pleasant to Demi. To have a friend that she could sit around and tease, to share in a laughter. It felt right. This was how things were supposed to be. Things felt… wonderful, right now.

Hanji walked up the hill that lead into the valley where the cabin was stashed away. She had spent half of the morning, wandering around, looking for the captain. She finally found his small form, laying in the grass, gazing up at the sky. The look in his eyes was blank, as though he wasn’t in this world at all. She leaned over, looking down at him and asked, “Levi-Heichou, shouldn’t you be attending to your squad?”  
At first, he didn’t even look at her and so she assumed she was going to be ignored. But then his silver eyes turned to Hanji and he casually commented, “They know what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s up to them to come up with their own plan of action.”  
“That’s not like you.” Hanji stated. “You’re usually down there kicking them for slacking off. The boys are just standing around. Shouldn’t we practice some formation exercises or something?” She was answered by silence this time. The breeze blew softly and it shifted his bangs just a bit out of his face.  
She was caught off guard when he asked, “If someone treated you like you were nothing but a nuisance, how would you respond?”  
“I’d probably just ignore them.” Hanji answered. Her brows pinched together behind her glasses as she examined him, trying to figure him out.  
“What if it was someone you cared about? And they made it obvious they didn’t want you around?”  
Hanji sighed and dropped down in the grass beside of him. Her elbows rested on her knees and she clasped her hands together. For a while, her lips were pressed into a hard line. She thought it over, trying to imagine it. She sighed and stated, “I’d probably try to figure out why, first. I would want to prove myself to that person. But if I found out that they just didn’t like me, then I’d leave them be. If I honestly cared about them, then the last thing I’d want to do would be to upset them more or make them unhappy. So… if they wanted me to go… I imagine I’d probably go…”   
She looked back at the smaller corporal to gage his reaction, but her eyes widened to see the look of sheer agony written across his face. He wasn’t looking at her, but his eyes were wide, watching the clouds drift across the sky. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought she’d punched him in the gut. The pain worsened and he sat up. “I figured as much…”  
“Levi… why are you asking me such weird questions?” Hanji asked.  
“It doesn’t matter why.” Levi snapped, getting to his feet and walking back down the slope. “Those brats need to stop fucking around, anyway.”

Leah walked up to Tsuki and Demi with a tray full of fruit and water for them to all snack on. She set it down in the grass and said, “Here you guys go.”  
Tsuki gave the girl a happy, warm smile and said, “Thank you so much. It’s like you read my mind. My stomach is growling like crazy.”  
Leah nodded, plopping herself down with them. “I’m not sure if you two have noticed, but Eren and Jean are arguing over there. It’s getting pretty intense and if the captain sees, he’s going to punish both of them.”  
Tsuki frowned a tad. “What are they arguing over now?”  
Demi shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed one of the sandwiches. “Who cares? Just let them fight it out and if they get themselves in trouble, then let them do so.”  
“But shouldn’t we at least – “ Tsuki started to question until the ground started to rumble. They all looked over as lightning struck down beside the cabin and in the next moment, Eren’s titan form was looming over all of them. Tsuki’s eyes widened, “What the hell!?”  
Demi shrieked, “Eren!? Why did you transform!?”  
Leah looked over as Armin and Mikasa ran towards them. Leah’s stomach dropped in her throat. “Guys? What’s going on – “  
“Where’s Jean!?” Tsuki panicked, trying to see through the smoke that rose up with Eren’s transformation.  
Armin’s eyes were wide with fright as he said, “He was pissed. He grabbed Jean while they were fighting, shouted ‘I’m going to kill you’ and then transformed.”  
Tsuki felt her stomach knot up. “So he transformed with the goal of killing Jean!?” She reached her hand out, the silver mist collecting over her body and causing her wings to spread and she flew towards Eren. “Where are you!? Jean!?”  
“Idiot!”   
Tsuki gasped, suddenly blind sided by another person flying through the air just as Eren’s hand swung through where Tsuki would have been. She gasped and she and Levi both hit the ground. She rolled right back up to her feet and looked around. “Where is he!?”  
Armin looked at her worriedly and said, “I think he’s in Eren’s hand.”  
Eren’s titan turned towards them, waving a fist in the air, there was blood all over his hand and when he opened it, nothing but pieces fell out of it and to the ground. He let out a deafening roar to the sky. Tsuki felt her blood run totally cold and she screamed, “JEAN!!!!” She felt like her world was being ripped apart all over again. “Come BACK!!!!”  
All of a sudden, a horrible wind ripped through the area, causing the smoke to clear out completely. Tsuki stared in awe as all the wind moved towards a location near Eren what looked like electricity was shooting out of the sky. Light, just like before, filled the forest and they all had to shield their eyes. After several minutes like this, the light broke apart, revealing a void high up in the sky. But all of them were struggling to hold their ground. It felt like everything was being ripped apart. And each time any of the electrical currents ran through, it either burned, like a sudden fire, or knocked them back.  
Tsuki tried to see what she’d done, through her arms over her face, but the light and energy was too strong and it was draining her too fast. She was already collapsed down to one knee but she didn’t know how to close the portal. Would it drain all of her energy first? Who would it stop when she got too low? She was scared to find out.  
Demi gritted her teeth, gasping when Hanji, who’d run up with Levi just after ERen transformed, tumbled backwards from the force of the wind. A pulse of electricity was shooting towards Armin, but Leah jumped in the way, but it sent her back a couple steps and down on her ass. Demi cursed herself. She’d gotten Tsuki to use her power again, but they couldn’t make it work like this. She was afraid, now, that she had done more harm than good.  
Suddenly, the sky around the portal was starting to swirl and distort. Even more than before, Demi felt like something had truly gone wrong. Was Tsuki breaking time? The electricity was getting worse and she felt several zaps burn her arms and legs before it stopped completely. The portal was sucked into what seemed like a warp point and the air all around them was filled with a red mist. Then it, along with everything else that had gone out of control, was gone. Like it never even happened.  
Demi blinked, seeing that Eren was back to his normal form and he was helping a completely uninjured Jean to his feet. Tsuki was staring at them, but she was on her knees, panting. “What’s going on?” She asked hoarsely.  
“Will you please stop breaking time?”  
They all turned around, seeing a short woman dressed in a dark gray hooded trench coat walking up to them. Demi’s eyes widened in shock. It was the same woman that had been with them when they were younger. Tsuki reluctantly ripped her gaze away from Jean to look at the new woman. Only her thin lips curled into a wicked smile could be seen under her hood. “Did you… close that portal?”  
The woman’s lip curled even further and she started to say something back when a noise made them all look around.   
They were suddenly all surrounded by titans. They ranged from 5 meter class to 12 meters, and all of them were converging on the cabin.   
Levi snarled, gripping his swords, “All of you, get inside of the cabin. Slayers who can fight, join us. Protect Eren at all cost – “  
“Ah-ah.” The woman smirked. “That nonsense isn’t necessary.” She raised her arms, the dark gray poncho lifting off of her to reveal her black jumpsuit, lined with swords and guns. But she didn’t need them. She flicked her hands and explosions surrounded them, ripping all of the titans apart in a matter of seconds. Blood spattered across the clearing and splashing upon all of the awed onlookers.  
Demi gaped in shock. Without even moving an inch, this woman had just eradicated about fifteen titans. Was this even possible?  
The woman dropped her arms and heaved a sigh. “Those rude creatures would not let me talk. Filthy fucking animals. Now… where were we, Tsukiko?”  
Tsukiko felt even more shocked than she already did. She knew her name?


	88. Selfishness

"We’re going out!” Isabel announced happily as she and Kana walked into the main area. Both Farlan and Levi looked skeptically up at them. Kana felt uneasy at the glare she received from Levi. She was wearing his shirt, as it was all that would fit her, but that’s why they were going out. They were going to get her some more clothes so she wasn’t having to keep borrowing.  
Levi stood, but his glare was now accusatory towards her. “And where are you going this time?”  
Isabel stuck her tongue out at him. “We’re going to get her some clothes. We won’t do anything dumb. Promise.”  
His eyes narrowed. She could see he was getting mad. It was still something she had to get used to – him being so open about his emotions. He scolded her, “I thought I told you to stay out of that area?”  
Isabel feigned innocence. “Did you…? I don’t remember.”  
Farlan glared at her. “Isabel, this is serious. Since we haven’t had any jobs recently, and we keep having to steal, you can’t just go around there like its any other day. They’ll recognize you and attack you.”  
“I’ll go alone.” Kana quickly said. “I can handle myself. Thanks anyway Isabel.” She was headed for the door when Isabel whined.  
“But what about your injury, Kana-san!?” Isabel frowned. “You can’t go out there by yourself.”  
Farlan leaned back in his chair. “It’s probably better for neither of you to go. They’ll be looking for you, too, Kana.”  
Kana fanned her hand. “Eh, it’s okay. If anything happens to me than it’s just one less burden for you guys anyway.” She smiled and trotted on outside.  
Isabel gasped when Farlan and Levi both went back to their business. She glared at them and then ran out. “Kana-san! Wait!”  
Levi shot up. “Isabel - !”  
Farlan grabbed his arm before he could run after them. “Let them go. They’ll be fine.”  
He gritted his teeth. He’d been so lenient recently because Isabel had seemed so much happier since the second red-head started staying with them. But now she was growing more and more reckless. She wasn’t listening to him like she used to and he feared her getting severely hurt. His hands clenched into fists. If something happened to her…

Kana glared back at Isabel when she heard her name called. She hissed at her, “What are you doing? You were supposed to stay back there!”  
Isabel paused to catch her breath before telling her, “I’m not letting you do reckless things alone with your wound so bad. What if you get hurt? Or… die?”  
Kana looked away as they walked, shoving her hands in her pockets. “What if I do? Isabel, can’t you tell that I don’t belong there with you guys?”  
“That’s not true!” Isabel stated matter of factly. “If brother didn’t like you there, then he wouldn’t let you stay. He doesn’t make exceptions. I know it seems like he wants you to leave, but if he did, then he wouldn’t care that you were hurt or anything, he’d make you leave. And look! He even let you borrow his shirt.”  
Kana went quiet. As they walked, she became more aware of her surroundings. The air down here, in the underground was rank. But this fabric that adorned her body smelled pleasant. It was a bit different then her captain’s smell, but she could still sniff the similarities. It still brought her the same securities that it did in her time. Honestly, she was going to hate having to give him back his shirt. It warmed her in more than just temperature.  
“Here!”  
Kana looked at where Isabel was pointing. There was a tiny little shop that had very few sets of clothes. All of them were outrageously high priced, like everything here. How did people even survive? She and Isabel went inside, but they were watched the entire time by the lady owner. Isabel was watching her as Kana looked through the clothes, finding a few shirts and pants that would fit her.   
Isabel leaned to her and whispered, “I think she’s expecting us to steal, but it doesn’t look like she’s got anything to stop us with. We can just grab and run.”  
Kana glanced at her. “Are you sure? She has so little I would expect her to be armed or something. If we steal anything it could literally cost her for a good while.”  
“I’m positive. She’s just standing there.” Isabel assured.  
Kana went to go look through some more racks when she noticed the lady look away. She was distracted for a moment by something outside the window. She and Isabel both turned sharply and took off out of the shop. The lady screamed after them but by the time she was out the door, they’d put so much distance on her that they couldn’t even see her anymore.  
They got to the other side of the market and stopped, panting. “That was great. Much easier than I thought.”  
Isabel giggled. “We did awesome.” She stood up straight, but glanced in the window of the store they stopped in front of. Kana noticed her green eyes shimmering brightly. Following her gaze, she saw a ruby red bead bracelet. The beads were square in shape with traditional Chinese symbols drawn on them. “It’s so pretty…” Isabel stated.  
Kana smiled softly. The expression on her face was precious. It literally warmed her heart and soul. She put her hand on the girl’s head and asked, “Want to take it?”  
She blushed and made the cutest, childish face she’d ever seen. “D-Do you think it’d look good on me?”  
“Who cares?” Kana asked. “If you want it, wear it. But yes. I think it would look magnificent on you.”  
Isabel started towards the glass when she let out a shriek and dropped to one knee suddenly. Kana gasped and looked over her shoulder, seeing the heavy-set shop owner with two knives in her hands. She looked down, seeing one knife was already in Isabel’s lower thigh. Her eyes widened and she picked the girl up quickly. Grunting, she realized bending over was a bad mistake, but she didn’t care. She dropped the clothes she had and pulled Isabel up over her shoulder and started running.  
Isabel was struggling in her grasp. “I can run! Put me down, Kana-san!”  
“You’ll bleed more!” Kana told her. “And you’ll be too slow.” She dove into an alley to avoid another knife. She climbed up on top of a dumpster and jumped over a fence and into the next street over. She heard the lady shouting curses at them, but she couldn’t get over the fence. Kana kept running back towards their hide out.  
Isabel had tears in her eyes. “I’m not useless.”  
“Isabel, why do you keep saying that? No one thinks you’re useless.” Kana told her softly.  
“I do.” She grumbled. “I keep messing up…”  
Kana carefully set Isabel down once they got back to the hideout and she pushed the door open. Isabel gimped inside with Kana’s help and instantly, both boys shot up. Farlan went straight to Isabel and asked, “What the hell happened?”  
But Levi had grabbed Kana and yanked her away from the girl. He pushed her against the wall with one hand and had already whipped out a knife in his other. He shouted, “I thought I told you – “  
“Brother stop!” Isabel screamed, grabbing his arm, despite Farlan trying to pull her back. “It’s not her fault! It’s mine! I wasn’t paying attention!”  
Farlan pulled Isabel back. “Knock it off, Isabel, don’t get worked up. We need to get that knife out of your leg.” He dragged her back to the other room so he could treat her injury, despite her protests.  
Levi slammed the knife down into the table, his back to her. Kana’s heart was slamming inside of her chest and her eyes were wide. For a moment, there, she had thought he was going to kill her. Without even hesitating. She was so frightened that she felt dizzy.  
He turned back to her, his eyes hardened with rage. “Do you see what you’ve done? Your stupid tricks don’t work. She’s gotten attached to you and is trying to copy you and do everything as you do. You’ve done enough. I think it’s time for you to leave.”  
Kana’s body felt so cold. She forced herself to smile despite wanting to cry. “You’re right. I was thinking the same thing… I’m sorry I caused such a mess… I should have just left after you guys were kind enough to treat my injury.” Biting her lip, to keep the tears back, she made her way to the room where she stayed, out of the way, for the remainder of the night.

Kana looked over at Isabel stirring the next morning. Kana was knelt down beside the bed, collecting up what little she had. Farlan had given her permission to take some medical supplies with her. She stuffed them in a bag. She had changed back into her ratty, torn, bloodstained clothes and stood up. Along the way, she’d probably try again to get another change of clothes.  
Isabel sat up and mumbled, “What are you doing, Kana-san?”  
“I’m… gonna try and get home.” Kana answered.  
Isabel gasped and shot off the bed. “N-No!” She winced and gripped her leg where her injury was. She held her other hand out. “Kana-san! If this is about yesterday, I’m sorry! Please! I’ll do better! But don’t go!”   
Kana shook her head and turned away, resisting tears. “I’m sorry, Isabel. But I need to. I don’t want to bother you guys anymore.” She walked out and into the main area. Since yesterday, Levi hadn’t even looked at her.   
Farlan gave her a sad smile and asked, “You decided to head out?”  
Kana glanced at Levi and then said, “Yeah. I really should be trying to find my way home.” Her heart was aching. If she couldn’t find a way home, she had no idea where she’d go or what she’d do. But even if she did find a way back to her time, she was scared. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to look at Levi the same way.  
“Got everything you need?” Farlan asked.  
“Y-Yeah…” Kana hesitated and walked up to Levi. She held the shirt out to him. “Th-thanks for letting me borrow this.”  
He hadn’t been looking at her, but when she tried to give him back the shirt, he just glared at her and snapped, “Keep it. I don’t want it back.”  
She gritted her teeth. Every word felt like a cold stab in the heart. She felt like she was falling apart. Her throat swelled up and she knew that if she spoke, she’d start crying. So instead she nodded her head and went for the door.  
Isabel ran out and shrieked, “Stop! Kana-san! Don’t go! G-guys! Brother! Farlan! Stop her! Please! Tell her she can stay! Tell her she doesn’t have to go.”  
Levi just gave her a bored look before sipping at his tea. Isabel gasped and shouted, “Brother, stop it! Stop being so mean! She’s – Kana-san, stop!”  
Kana slammed the door shut behind her. She couldn’t hold it back any longer. Tears started racing down her cheeks and her whole body filled with the hurt and ache of sadness. He grip tightened on the bag over her shoulder. She was starting to doubt everything. How could someone who hated her so much now, care about her in her era? Unless he didn’t. Maybe he was just putting up an act. Maybe she was misinterpreting everything. Every step made everything hurt more. The feeling of being rejected so completely wasn’t new to her. But this one just hurt so much more.

Isabel glared at Farlan and Levi. She sniffed, “Why didn’t you guys do anything? Why didn’t you try…? She didn’t do anything wrong…”  
Levi looked at her over his tea. He calmly told her, “You were getting too worked up. She’s gotten you hurt several times now. Enough is enough. We were better off before she came along.”  
Isabel gritted her teeth and screamed, “No we weren’t! Brother you’re just being selfish! I’m the one messing up so be mad at me! She’s not making me do anything! So don’t punish her!”  
Farlan cut her off by calmly telling her, “Enough. Isabel, she’s gone now. So just let it go.”  
Isabel gritted her teeth, tears in the corners of her eyes. “Whatever…”

That night, Isabel was glaring at the soup in front of her. The vegetables tasted horrible and the bread was stale. She picked at it, but didn’t eat any of it. Levi scolded her, “I’m not listening to your stomach all night. Eat something.”  
“It’s gross.” Isabel commented. “It’s old and nasty.”  
“You didn’t used to complain about it.” Levi retorted. “Quit being picky. It’s better than starving.”  
“I’d rather starve.” Isabel stated bitterly.  
Farlan took a bite of his stew. He’d never admit it to Levi, but Isabel was right. It was gross. They hadn’t had much luck with their haul tonight. They’d gotten used to having Kana around. But he knew that Levi agreed, because he, too, wasn’t touching his food. With a heavy sigh, he stated, “You know, we’d have fresh food if Kana was here.”  
Levi glared darkly at him. “Farlan…”  
Farlan shrugged. Levi looked at Isabel and asked, “You’re saying you’d rather her be here, even if you keep getting injured.”  
Isabel suddenly shouted, “I didn’t get hurt cause of her! She told me to stop doing reckless things! She saved me! It’s not her fault any of the times that happened.” She frowned. “She didn’t do anything wrong, brother. And she was always so nice and fun to be around.”  
Levi narrowed his eyes. He remembered seeing the two of them in Isabel’s room, reading together. A foreign feeling overcame him. He had been hard on the girl. But why? What was it that irritated him so much? Was it this weird feeling he kept getting from her? The strange sensation he had never felt before and he didn’t know what to do with it.  
Maybe it was just those eyes of hers…  
Levi stood up and pulled on his jacket. Isabel excitedly asked, “Where are you going, brother?”  
“Out.”  
He slammed the door behind him.

Levi walked around for a couple hours. It was getting cold and he was close to giving up on his search when he saw the familiar red hair knelt down before a kid in the street. He had a cut on his face and she was patching it up using some of the medicine they’d let her have. His eyes narrowed. She had a mortal wound, so little wrap, and she was using it to help a kid. He paused.  
She was so selfless. He realized then that never once had she asked for any food or drink while she was there. Even when she was the one who went and got it. Each time it had been given to her or she was forced to eat or drink it. He couldn’t figure it out. She was so vague with where she came from and every time she looked at him, he saw recognition in her eyes, like she already knew all of his secrets.  
He walked up behind her and crossed his arms. He caught the tail end of what she was telling the kid.  
“ –there. Take this to your sick mommy okay?” Kana placed a couple rolls in his hand. “And stay out of trouble. You’re too young to go grabbing out of merchant bins, alright?”  
The little boy wiped his tears and nodded. “O-okay.”  
Kana smiled and stood up as she watched the kid run off. She sighed and turned around, gasping when she nearly walked into the wall of steel behind her. Levi glared at her, but it still made her heart race out of control. She didn’t think her feelings for him would ever change. No matter what he did to her. But she looked away out of shame. “S-sorry.”  
She started to walk by him when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back in front of him. “I don’t get you.”  
Kana looked startled. She held the bag close in her arms and whispered, “Get me? What do you mean?”  
“You have nothing.” Levi growled. “But you never ask for anything and everything you get you’re giving away. You’re so vague about your background and your home… I don’t believe they ever really even existed.”  
Kana’s gaze softened. “It seems that way, doesn’t it?” She sighed. “Hey… I’m really sorry about what happened to Isabel. I take full responsibility. I should have stopped showing her tricks when she first started getting really wound up. It was dumb and I’m sorry she had to pay for my stupidity. If there was something I could do to make up for it, I will, but the last thing I want to do is continue to bother you guys.” She shifted the second bag on her shoulder.  
Levi narrowed his eyes. “Where do you plan to go? Really?”  
Kana smiled sadly. “I was just going to walk around for the evening and find somewhere to rest. I need to get to the surface.”  
“How? And why? Because I don’t believe your trying to get home story.” Levi stated. “You’re shrouded in mystery and that’s why I can’t bring myself to trust you. If you would – “  
“Do you want me asking all the questions about your history?” Kana asked suddenly. She stopped herself. This was the way she would talk to her captain, but she wasn’t sure what would happen talking to this Levi this way. But it was too late. She’d opened the can of worms. “I’m sure there are things in your past that upset you. That hurt you to remember. That even if you explained them to someone and they believed you, they’d never understand. Are you saying that it’s fair to ask that of me, just so you can trust me?”  
His eyes widened. He gritted his teeth. Of course he had things in his past he didn’t want to remember. But he’d expected her to confess to everything. Just because he was unsure. Why? Why did he not trust her? Because there was some feeling he got when she was near. He didn’t know what it was. He reached out to her suddenly and put his hand on her head. “Farlan, Isabel and I have been trying to get to the surface for years. Come back. You can join us in trying to get there.”  
Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. “But – Levi – “  
For the first time, there was a softness in his gaze. She was so startled at his words, and so scared of going back. He felt that foreign feeling in him stronger than ever. He didn’t want her to be scared. He had no reason to take his insecurities out on her. She belonged with them. She fit right in. Isabel already loved her and he could even feel himself warming up to those red eyes. “Do you even know how to be selfish, Kana?”  
Kana shifted the second bag off her shoulder and pulled a crimson fruit out of it. His eyes widened as she held out the apple for him to take. She whispered, “I’d gotten a bunch of these. I was going to drop them off for you guys.”  
For the first time, in that moment, he felt something break inside of him. It wasn’t a bad break. It felt like a crack in his guard. It felt like she was reaching into his soul and pulling out a part of him that he didn’t know existed. The feeling that had teased him off and on these last few weeks. Could it be… affection? He cared about Isabel and Farlan. But there was something… else with her.  
He took the apple from her hand and took a bite out of it, then ordered, “Come on. Let’s go home.”  
Her eyes widened and he could literally see the happiness flood her face. Her expression was so pure, so innocent, so perfect. He felt his heart do an awkward stumble and he turned away. He started walking, pausing only once to make sure she was following. After shifting her bag back onto her shoulder, she trotted after him.


	89. Intruder

“I’m sorry… but… do I know you?” Tsuki asked, her eyes bugged out with questioning. She glanced up when she felt Jean carefully lifting her off her knees and to her feet. She turned on her lover and sharply demanded, “How are you fine? I saw you crushed! What… how…”  
Jean frowned and said, “They faked it.”  
“Faked what? Why?” Tsuki asked and looked over at Demi and Eren.   
Demi shuffled her foot and said, “I thought… that if I had Eren pretend to kill Jean that it would kick you into gear and you’d be able to open up a portal. Unfortunately though, you freaked out more than you were supposed to. And… well…”  
“You broke time.” The new woman stated.  
Everyone started glaring suspiciously at her once again so she raised her hands up. “Sorry. Not trying to step on any toes here. But it’s why I’m here.”  
“What is why you’re here?” Levi demanded. “How did you find this place?”  
“Well, a little birdy long ago told me around where this place was. But of course the lightning and energy and all around breaking time thing didn’t give you away or anything.” The woman rubbed the back of her hood and looked around. “That’s why all of those titans showed up. You alerted about anything within ten miles that you were right here. I killed a few on my way in, but I was kind of in a hurry. If you would have kept going… You could have done a lot of damage. Time isn’t anything kid slayers should be playing with.”  
“Do correct me if I’m wrong, but you wouldn’t happen to be a Slayer yourself, would you?” Hanji asked, stepping forward. “Considering what you just did, I would assume that you - “  
“You’re wrong.” The woman stated sharply. “I’m not a Slayer. Truth is, I really can’t answer very many questions right now. Things are… complicated. I shouldn’t even be here. But I had to make sure that everything was fixed. And I wanted to see…” The woman’s voice drifted as she glanced over each of the slayers. Her attention remained on Demi longer than anyone else. Her lips pursed below the shadow of her hood. “I wasn’t expecting this.”  
“What were you expecting?” Tsuki asked, but she gasped when Demi stepped past her, walking closer to the woman.   
Demi mumbled, “You’re her. You’re the person. The one that took care of us all.”  
“What are you talking about?” Tsuki questioned. But her gaze shifted back to the woman in the hood. There was a single lock of hair braided towards the front of her face. It was a bright pink, almost crimson like color. Suddenly she knew that Demi wasn’t wrong. This was not the first time they had met this woman. Tsuki asked her, “Who are you?”  
“Ah. Well. My name is Meria.” The woman stated with a giggle. “And you are Tsuki. And Demi. And Leah… and…” Her focus paused on the small black haired girl that was running around behind the trio with a snake. Her lips pursed tightly and her voice cracked as she whispered, “Mizuki…”  
Mizuki looked up when she heard her name spoken and she looked around a moment before suddenly darting across the area and running up and clinging to Levi’s shoulder, hiding from ‘Meria’.  
Levi glanced at the small weapon and then looked at the woman and sharply said, “I’m not for sure who you are, but we don’t need you around here. Carry on.”  
The woman waved her hands and said, “I know I seem really suspicious right now but it’s just because I’m not allowed to discuss things. I’m not even supposed to be here, but it’s imperitive that I help Tsuki retrieve Kana.”  
All of them went quiet for the longest time. Levi demanded, “How did you know she was sent back through time?”  
Meria held up a finger and said, “I suppose you can call it intuition.”  
Tsuki hesitated, glancing at Demi who dipped her head a bit. So she turned and told Levi and Hanji, “I trust her. Can we hear her out, at least?”  
Levi frowned. His judgement was telling him otherwise, but he had already learned the heard way once what happened when he didn’t trust what a Slayer had to say. He nodded his head and said, “Fine.”

“Thanks…” Meria purred as Tsuki sat down a glass of water in front of her and the rest of them were all sitting around the little living room type area. She sipped at her water and with a bright smile, she giggled, “You all have such frightening faces. I truly came at a bad time, hm?”  
“A little…” Tsuki confessed.  
“So tell me. How’d you accidentally send a fellow teammate back in time?” Meria questioned.  
“Uh… I’m not sure how I did it.” Tsuki confessed. “She and Demi were fighting. I got mad and – “  
“About what?”  
“Huh?” Tsuki asked.  
“What were Demi and Kana arguing about?” Meria asked, but her gaze turned on Demi herself, who was sitting a little further away. It didn’t make her totally uncomfortable, but Demi had noticed the suspicion in her gaze and it had her a little uneasy.  
“Uhh…” Tsuki looked back to Demi for help.  
“Does it… matter?” Demi asked. “It’s Tsuki’s power that we’re focusing on right?”  
“I’m just curious.” Meria stated. “Was it just a little squabble or were you… trying to kill her per se?”  
Demi’s eyes narrowed. “Why would I want to – “ She stopped suddenly, remembering Sarthis trying his hardest to kill both her and Mizuki. Pursing her lips, Demi demanded, “Do you know something I don’t?”  
“Of course I do.” Meria answered. “But we can’t discuss it.”  
“No. Do you know why Sarthis thinks he’s been given orders to kill them?” Demi demanded. “He’s acted without my order twice now.”  
Meria’s gaze intensified and she mumbled. “Ah. She gave you Sarthis. That explains much.” Looking back at Demi she said, “That’s because Sarthis doesn’t follow your orders. He does as you say because he was ordered to do that by his true weilder. Sarthis isn’t your weapon.”  
Demi stared blankly at the woman for the longest time. “What the fuck do you mean by that? Who are you? How do you know anything about what Sarthis is or isn’t? Slayers can only have one weapon, so how can Sarthis not be mine?”  
“See, I can’t… answer that question. I can only tell you so much – “  
“Bull shit! Tell us now what’s going on! Where did you come from!?”  
Meria narrowed her eyes and they glowed bright red before suddenly Demi was forced back into her chair and she gasped, unable to move from it. She panickedly asked, what are you doing?”  
Meria smiled and said, “I’ll put you in timeout like a child if you can’t behave appropriately.”  
Demi snarled at her.  
Tsuki couldn’t help a giggle and said, “You seem a lot like a mother. Do you have a family back where you’re from?”  
“Which is the village of Slayers, right?” Leah asked excitedly.  
Meria was swirling her finger around the top of the glass, avoiding any direct eye contact with anyone. Her hood was down now, which revealed how her hair was mostly crimson, but the age was turning it pink a bit before halfway down and to almost white at the tips. She frowned and said, “Yes. I am from there, but again, I’m not a Slayer. As far as my family goes… I used to have one.”  
“Used to?” Tsuki asked with a frown.   
“I have one daughter but we’re not… really on speaking terms. I did something terrible. I don’t blame her. But my husband… died several years ago.” Her eyes narrowed as she continued to play with her drink. She had lost a lot more than just those two, but she couldn’t reveal more without giving up information she wasn’t supposed to.  
Levi watched the woman for a while. He knew better than anyone that cold hard look in her eyes. It was the kind of gaze that had seen a thousand deaths and who had suffered trials that no one could possibly understand. He admired anyone who’d been through such things and it relaxed him. Those who understood suffering would understand their cause. Those people could be trusted.  
Meria suddenly sat up and giggled, “Anyway, we’re just rambling here. Why don’t we get down to the hard work. Tsuki, would you show me what you can do with your powers so far?”

Tsuki and Meria were standing outside now, chatting about everything she could do. She showed her what Demi and Kana had been having her do for a while. The others were training or prepping and Hanji walked up to Levi and asked, “What do you think?”  
“About what?” Levi asked sharply.  
“This strange woman. She says she’s not a slayer, but she’s clearly not human.” Hanji stated. “What does that mean?”  
“She’s a weapon like me!” Mizuki stated, clinging to the back of Levi’s head.  
Levi frowned at her words and asked, “Then you know her?”  
“Of course. She’s my mommy.” Mizuki stated with a giggle.  
Hanji glared at Mizuki and Levi scolded, “Why didn’t you say so sooner? Like when we were discussing if she could be trusted or not? That would have been good to know.”  
“Why does her being my mommy have anything to do with if she can be trusted? She’s my mommy either way.” Mizuki stated.  
Levi huffed. Fighting with a child was the last thing on his to-do list. He looked over at the training Slayers, not sure if they were really making any progress or not. He was feeling more and more agitated as time went on. It seemed too… convienent… that a woman with the ability to train the Slayers would show up right when they needed it. His hands clenched at his sides. But if it meant bringing Kana back from that wretched time… he was more than willing to take that risk.  
Hanji smacked Levi’s shoulder, bringing his attention back to reality and she demanded, “Hey snap out of it. We already know we get her back one way or another. There’s no sense in dwelling on what we can’t do anything about. In the meantime, have you gotten any new orders from Erwin? Or is he actually putting things on hold?”  
“I find it hard to believe he’d put something like that on hold for our matters, but I haven’t received anything. Unless… this changes his plans...” Erwin’s opinion of the Slayers and their purpose hadn’t changed much from then to now. He still believed they were simply tools of humanity and were to be used that way. These girls who were little more than brats, with still immature thoughts and feelings, he considered to be ammunition to use against the titans and he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice any of them. He had to agree that they were certainly humanity’s greatest hope, but they are not just tools to be used. They’re as valuable and necessary as anyone else. One day, if it came down to Erwin trying to sacrifice them, he knew that he’d have to step in the way…. And he would.  
“I was just thinking the same thing…” Hanji agreed.

Tsuki was hovering in the air a few feet off the ground in front of Meria. Amaak’s usual form was wrapped around her torso with her wings jutting out from her back. They expertly moved just enough to keep her in the air. Meria was watching her curiously a moment before she asked, “Okay, can you show me his weapon form?”  
“Huh? But this is his weapon form.” Tsuki responded. “I’ve shown you all that he can do.”  
Meria shook her head, the pink braid bouncing off her shoulder as she said, “Does he agree that’s all he can do?”  
Immediately Amaak growled inside Tsuki’s head, “There is much more I can do.”  
As Meria began to explain and Tsuki landed, Demi trotted up with Leah. “You see, I’m guessing none of you remember being told this as children since you don’t have your memories, but Weapons have two modes. A weapon mode and an armor mode. All you have shown me, Tsuki, is an Armor Mode.”  
“What’s mine?” Leah asked, raising her hands and several shields showed up around them.  
With a small laugh, Meria answered, “Armor. You can probably attach those plates to your body.” Right on cue, as though to prove her correct, the plates suddenly moved in to Leah, attaching to her body and created a strange bulky new armor but it was reflective and looked powerful.  
“I think that I’ve activated both of Sarthis’s.” Demi stated. “He has a scythe form but he also has this snake scale stuff that I can wear to tear off injuries faster.”  
Meria nodded and then looked at Tsuki. “Can you draw out Amaak’s other form?”  
“How do I do that?” Tsuki asked, her eyes wide and full of eagerness.  
“Just ask him to.” Meria softly ordered.  
Tsuki nodded her head a moment later, the wings that were on her back shifted around and crawled down her arms before turning into a long staff with a white hook and a floating blue gem on the end. Tsuki stared at it in shock, not sure what to think of this weapon. Reaching her hand up, she touched the gem softly as Meria said, “Try and give him a swing. Just not at anyone.” She giggled.  
Tsuki turned, facing out into the forest and asked Amaak in her head what she was supposed to do. When he told her to just focus her energy, she grabbed the new weapon in both hands and held it out forward. A moment later, her own energy, along with Amaaks shifted to the gem and then shot out a massive blast that tore through the trees with extreme power.  
All of them stared in shock at the smoking trail left in the forest. Meria whistled and teased, “Check out that power. You back a serious punch. Man. How did you make it through without your weapon form?”  
Tsuki rubbed her head and stuck her tongue out with a giggle.

Much later that evening, most of the soldiers had gone to bed, but Meria was still up when Hanji and Levi walked into the living room. She was leaning against the window, staring at her reflection. After a moment, Hanji started to open her mouth but Meria cut her off and said, “It’s a nice night.”  
“Who told you where we were?” Hanji demanded. “I’m sorry. We trust you… but… there are some things that take precedence right now. Such as… who knows our location. We’re trying to protect – “  
“The titan, Eren Jaeger, and the woman, Historia Riess.” Meria told her, cutting her off sharply. “I know. We’ve been watching over you guys for a while. But there are still things I can’t answer. Much like you humans, I also have a king I report to and he strictly forbid me from disclosing secrets. I’ll answer what I can… but there is much you wish to know that I can’t answer. Whether I want to or not.”  
“So you can’t tell us who else knows our location?” Hanji demanded. “You won’t tell us who told you?”  
There was a long moment that Meria was quiet. Before she crossed her arms, she whispered, “Kana did. Over six years ago.”  
Hanji and Levi’s gaze widened. But then Levi gritted his teeth and grumbled, “I see. That makes sense.”  
Hanji sighed and admitted, “That’s a bit relieving. That means there’s no doubt that we can trust you, if Kana did.”  
Meria laughed without humor and told her, “Trust me, huh? Based on Kana’s choice? That’s a little far-fetched, but if you think so.”  
“You said you were speaking to your daughter.” Levi cut in sharply. “But this afternoon, Mizuki claimed to be your child.”  
Meria made an ‘o’ shape with her lips before she slid down the window until she was sitting halfway on the sill. She stated, “That’s heart-breaking. Perhaps she thinks of me as her mother, but weapons are created, not born.” When Meria was answered with silence, she guessed she was expected to continue explaining. With a heavy sigh, Meria said, “That’s another thing I can’t get into. Maybe Mizuki honestly believes I’m her mother. It’s true I helped raise her, but I’m not. I promise that was not who I was referring to.”  
“Can you… tell us why your king ordered you to stay silent?” Hanji asked.  
“He’s an old man with no hobbies and enjoys watching me suffer.” Meria whispered. “I lost my entire family and he’ll jump on any chance to remind me of my failure.” She realized that didn’t make any sense to them so she said, “The fate of this world rests in the hands of those children. If we give them certain answers, then they won’t be ready for what is to come. It’s for all of our good.”  
“What does finding the answer accomplish?” Hanji demanded, “Isn’t getting the answer the important part – “  
“Bear the truth when the storm comes through with Hell and high tide. Tip the scales and drive the nails in deeper every time.” Meria closed her eyes before whispering, “In our village, we follow in the words of our savior. We choose to believe in his words as we always have. Don’t get me wrong. We don’t believe in something as stupid as faith as many of you humans do. But he’s not just a figure-headed king as you all have. This being is real… and he is extremely powerful.” For several moments, she went silent before she whispered, “If you trust me, then just believe me. It must be done this way.”  
“Then can you tell us how to help them get the answers?” Levi demanded, his brows furrowed. “I’m sure in your little isolated village, there’s little that you understand of our situation but we’re pressed for time and lives. Every second we waste, another soldier could die in an unnecessary battle. We don’t have the luxury of waiting around on some hypothetical being to give you permission to tell them how to get their memories back and grow stronger. We, too have our duties to get to. If soldiers continued to die while you – “ Levi had started to raise his voice when Hanji put her hand up, trying to silence him.  
Meria straightened back up and glared at him. She spoke slowly and darkly, but it seemed like her words weighed heavily with sadness, not anger as she said, “Don’t you think I know plenty about the responsibility of the lives lost by my decisions? I lost my family because I made one stupid mistake. Don’t lecture me on what is right and wrong. Keep in mind that I’ve seen far worse than some weak little titans. Know that Slayers kill those titans like you humans kill insects. But I’ve seen things that kill Slayers like insects. If you want a peek at my nightmare, then you’re more than welcome to try. Until then, goodnight captains.” Meria angrily brushed by both of them and went to the bedroom she was given earlier that day.  
Hanji glared at Levi and said, “Now look what you’ve done. You’ve pissed her off.”  
But Levi was staring after Meria. All he could think about was that one line. That line he’d heard so many times but each time, it grew more and more meaningful.  
“Something worse than titans, huh…”


	90. Broken Man

The next few weeks seemed to fly by. Things were a lot less stressful around the place and Isabel really was doing a lot better. In the mix, they had gotten a couple jobs again, so they weren’t out and about so much. The money that came in from the jobs – which she had specifically been left out of the details of – paid for some more utensils and necessities. Including some clothes for her.   
But occasionally, she’d put on Levi’s shirt, just to relax in. The smell of it soothed her in a way none of her other clothes could. She was really settling in and things were starting to feel normal. It wasn’t so bad in this era. She missed her friends and the fresh air… but she could stay with these people. She didn’t mind it.

“I don’t think we’ve ever gotten so much!” Isabel shouted excitedly, throwing the piles of food and ingredients on the table.  
Kana laughed when she started going through, pointing at everything she wanted to eat. “This’ll probably last us the rest of the week.”  
“We should celebrate!” Isabel shouted excitedly. “Let’s make something delicious!”  
“Like what?” Kana asked, laughing. She smiled to herself when she saw Levi starting some tea.  
“I don’t know, think of something.” Isabel ordered her.  
“Are you volunteering to do the cooking, Kana?” Farlan teased her.  
Kana frowned a bit and put her hands up. “I’m… not very good at it, but if you want me to – “  
“Yes!” Isabel cheered. “You cook and Farlan and I will go fetch some wood for the fireplace!” She had her hands up in the air, singing as she danced along, out the door. Farlan sighed and followed.

Some time passed and Kana was just glaring at the food on the counter. The knife was in her hand, with all intents and purposes of starting to cook, but she had no idea where to even start. After a while, she heard Levi scoff from where he was at the table. She glared at him and asked, “What so funny?”  
“I’m wondering how long you’re going to stand there with that stupid look on your face.” Levi snapped.  
Kana gaped at him and squeezed the knife. “I… wanted to make something special… I can’t decide how I want to do it. Once I decide what I want to do, then I’ll cook! So mind your own business!”  
Levi glared away. “Whatever, stupid.”  
After a while, she heard Levi get up and walk up to the counter beside her. He grabbed a cloth from one of the drawers and put it over his hair. “Here. Since you don’t know how to cook. I’ll teach you some basics.”  
Kana’s gaze softened with embarrassment. “Um… you don’t have to do that. Really, I don’t – “  
Levi glared at her, pointing the knife to her chin. “I’m not doing this for your sake. I’m doing this so you don’t kill us by poisoning our food.”  
Kana gritted her teeth and snapped, “You jerk!”  
Levi glanced at her, but there was a smile, not on his lips, but somewhere inside of him. The way she called him a jerk was so informal and amusing. It was like she was trying to offend him, but it just came across as playful. He wasn’t sure how she kept doing it, but just by her being her, she was breaking down his walls. He was warming up to her in a way he’d never warmed up to anyone. She was becoming a part of their crew.  
When he realized she was still standing there, he grabbed a second knife and handed it to her. He talked her through the basics of how to cut up vegetables and what tasted best with what. He watched her while he cut up one of the tomatoes. She was working on a stick of celery, but her slices were jagged and uneven and her knife kept slipping. “You’re clumsy.”  
Kana blushed and glared at him. “You’re a bad teacher!”  
“No. You’re a bad student.” Levi reprimanded. “You need to focus less on how hard you’re cutting and more on cutting smoothly.”  
She grumbled, “I am trying.”  
“If you cut off your own finger, then I’m not helping you.” Levi snapped. “You should have paid more attention, stupid.”  
“A tomato is easier to cut than celery!” She growled.  
He rolled his eyes and reached over, taking the celery from her cutting board and easily slicing it up in just a few seconds. He picked up the pieces and dropped them back on her board. “Stupid. Useless.”  
Kana glared at him. “You don’t have to be such an ass about it!” She was blushing darkly, feeling embarrassed that she wasn’t getting something so simple.  
He sighed and washed off his hands. “Here.”  
She gasped when he came up behind her, his arms lining up with hers and taking her hands in his. Her breathing slowed to a stop as he guided her hands delicately through the cutting process. Her gaze softened and she stopped paying any attention at all. His lips were against her ear, telling her just what he was doing as he made her do it. Her skin felt hot where his breath touched and it made her heart race in her chest. It was becoming a struggle just for her to breath. Every now and then, she could hear the change in his tone as he called her stupid, or ordered her to pay attention. The feel of his hands, gently guiding her through the motions was unlike anything she ever imagined. It was so tender, delicate, and intimate.  
“You’re not even paying attention, are you?” Levi growled, stepping back.  
Kana blushed darkly and quickly turned, gasping when she hit his foot and stumbled. He caught her, hands on her arms, landing against his chest. They stayed like that a moment. Levi swallowed hard, aware of the pounding in his chest. He was only familiar with his heart racing when he was going in for a kill, so he wasn’t sure why it was responding so rapidly now.  
He snapped, “I told you, you were a klutz.” His mind told him to let her go and stand her back up, but he couldn’t let go for some reason. His fingers twitched on the soft skin of her arms. She was unusually warm. Irresistibly warm.  
“Thanks…” She breathlessly whispered. “…For not letting me fall.”  
When he still didn’t let her go, he felt her body relax. Her head leaned into his chest and she gently squeezed the fabric of his shirt. He didn’t know why the simple motion brought color to his cheeks, but it did. His body relaxed and the world slipped away.  
For that moment, there was nothing in his world but the little red head, tucked against his chest. His hands hesitantly moved, one resting on her back, and the other went to the back of her head. The silky strands of hair weaved between his fingers. He closed his eyes.  
For the first time in his life… he felt at peace.  
And it terrified him.  
He pushed her back from him and glared at her. “You still have to finish cooking, stupid. I’m not babying you through the whole thing.”  
Her cheeks were flushed and she nodded her head. “O-Okay.”  
He still had to talk her through the rest of the cooking process, but he didn’t mind it. She and Isabel were a lot alike. They both had a determined look in their eyes and were always peppy about simple stupid things. Watching her entertained him. He kept Farlan and Isabel with him, for that reason. Because they made him hate people a little less. But watching her, was something new for him. He normally felt cold and indifferent, but right that moment, as he watched her stir the food over the fire, he felt… security. What he could only imagine was happiness. If she were behind him, not only was he not afraid of taking a knife from her, but he was sure she would guard him from other attacks.  
The thought of the knife, took him back a few weeks, when he had nearly stabbed her himself. His eyes narrowed. He’d almost killed her, but here she was, smiling and laughing beside of him. Was she an idiot? Or… was there a chance she saw through his anger and recognized him beneath the surface? He glared away and cursed himself for having such hopeful thoughts.  
Someone like him could never get so close to someone.  
He looked back over when he heard Kana let out a gasp and pull her hand quickly back from the fire. He looked at her curiously and saw her shaking her hand. “Burn yourself?”  
Kana blushed and looked away. “It’s not that bad. I’m fine.”   
She went to reach back into the fire when he knelt down and caught her hand. He brought the soft limb back to him and flipped her arm so he could see the inside of her palm and wrist. There was a crescent moon shape from where she had set it down on the edge of the pan. He glared at her and reprimanded, “Stupid.” He closed his eyes and brought her skin to his lips, softly kissing the burn.  
Her reaction pleased him. Her eyes widened and a blush spread across her face before she looked away. He pulled his lips away and smirked. “Try not to fry your own fingers. No one wants to eat those.”  
She stiffened and glared up at him, shouting, “Jerk!”  
It didn’t matter how many times he heard that from her, it pleased him. He ordered, “Go run some cold water over it. I’ll finish this up.”  
Sometime later, Isabel and Farlan finally returned. Isabel laughed as she tossed more wood into the fire when it started to die out. She took a big sniff of the air and shouted, “It smells amazing! Kana, you cook this all yourself?”  
“I – “ Kana started to tell them that she couldn’t cook if her life depended on it, but Levi cut her off, sipping from his cup. “Yes. She cooked it completely on her own.”  
Kana blushed and looked away. They all set the table and enjoyed the meal. Isabel repeatedly thanked her for the delicious food, but she felt guilty with every compliment.   
After dinner, Kana went to wash up again, but like always, the water ran blood red.  
She leaned on the counter, but she couldn’t hardly get up to her feet this time. Her body ached so badly. The muscles and skin were wanting to heal, but it’s like the part of her that was able to heal was missing. So it just kept using her energy until she was totally depleted. She collapsed down to the floor, her vision going fuzzy.  
Before she knew it, her head lulled and her vision went black.

 

Levi knocked on the bathroom door, grumbling. “What are you taking so long for?” He demanded shortly. He narrowed his eyes when he didn’t get a response and rapped on the door harder. When he was still ignored and snapped through the door. “Answer me, stupid!”  
Gritting his teeth he shoved the door open and snapped, “You stupid – “   
He stopped when he saw her body collapsed against the counter. Her hand was on her stomach wound, but there was blood all over her naked body. He suppressed the blush that tried to rise to his cheeks and dropped down. “Kana. Wake up.” He ordered. He shifted her head and felt for her pulse. It was slow. Terribly slow. “Shit.” He ripped the towel off the counter top and wiped away the blood. His eyes widened. The gash was much deeper than she had let on. It was a good six inches across her stomach.  
A terrible thought crossed his mind. He reached behind her and felt her lower back. His eyes widened when he felt a smaller cut there. A squabble between friends? What a load of shit. Whatever had happened, it went through her completely. It was no wonder her body wasn’t healing. Most people wouldn’t have even survived a hit like that. He pressed the towel firmly to her wound and glared at her.  
“Wake up, Kana. Now.”  
He shifted her around, trying to lay her down so the bleeding would stop. He was painfully aware of how limp her pale body was in his arms. When he pulled the now dripping wet towel away, he noticed that there were remains of torn stitches in her stomach. He grabbed her clothes off the counter and was thankful when he saw that the shirt she’d grabbed was his button up shirt. He slipped it over her shoulders and buttoned it over her chest, leaving it open over her stomach.  
He struggled working her into her pants, his cheeks a soft pink as he struggled not to touch her inappropriately. Once he had her dressed, he went to Farlan’s room and beat the door. “Farlan. Wake up.”  
A groggy Farlan opened the door, rubbing his eyes. “What is it, Levi?”  
“You can stitch a wound, can’t you?” Levi demanded.  
His eyes widened a bit. “Relatively, why?”  
For the next hour or so, Farlan worked on stitching up Kana’s wound and then they carried her back to the bedroom. Isabel had shot up, panicked, asking what happened. Levi shook his head and told her. “She hadn’t come out of the bathroom for a while. I found her laying unconscious, bleeding. Her wound hasn’t healed at all.”  
Isabel frowned and pulled Kana up, rubbing her face against her neck. “Oh, Kana-san.”  
“Her stitches had broken.” Farlan stated. “So that’s why it was bleeding so bad. I think they’re good to go now. As long as she wakes up, she should be good for a while.”  
Isabel smiled up at the two boys. “Thanks. She doesn’t like burdening us…”  
“I know…” Farlan frowned, his hands on his hips.  
“But now there’s a mess in the bathroom…” Levi grumbled.  
Isabel nodded her head. “I’ll help her clean it up in the morning.”  
“Don’t worry about it. Just make sure she takes it easy in the morning. We’re not going to restitch it for her every damn day.” Levi growled, walking out of the room.

The next morning, Kana shot up and gasped, looking around. Isabel was sitting beside of her, but her eyes were wide and full of worry. She took the red-head’s hands and told her, “Kana-san!? You woke up. Are you okay?”  
“What happened?” Kana asked weakly. “I remember… taking a bath… and then… nothing…”  
“You passed out from blood loss from your wound. Brother says it was really bad. But he and Farlan stitched you up.” Isabel told her before pressing her face to her chest and wrapping her arms around her. “You scared us, Kana-san! Don’t do that anymore!”  
Kana’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry. I… didn’t mean to…”  
There were tears in her big green eyes. “So? Be more careful. Tell us when you’re hurting.” Her grip on Kana tightened. “I don’t want to lose Kana-san…”  
“Ah, Isabel…” Kana gently ran her hand through the little girl’s hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”  
Isabel made a happy noise, moving her head to the feeling of Kana running her hand through her hair. “Good. Now let’s get you up. We have a big day. We got a job this morning. Wanna help?”  
“A job?” Kana questioned.

Later, they were walking down a small street in one of the lesser districts. Farlan was explaining, “One of the main reasons we get away with so much is because we help a lot of business men take out their competitors. You won’t see a lot of the same kind of stores down here – even of the few businesses we have to begin with.”  
“So you guys are the hired hands, huh?” Kana asked. “Someone slips you word that they’d be better off if someone didn’t exist and you guys take care of ‘em? Then reap the rewards?”  
“You do what you gotta to stay alive.” Isabel explained. “Of course, doing this, we only get jobs so often, so we still have to scrounge for food most of the time.”  
Kana frowned. “This sucks. There’s nothing you guys can do to fix your situation?”  
Levi’s voice was thick with hatred and malice when he answered, “If we could get to the surface, we could. But other wise, we’re stuck with this trashy life.”  
“That’s why we’re constantly trying to find a way to get a life up on the surface.” Isabel explained. “But you can’t buy a house up there for the money that’s made down here. No one cares about us ‘sewer rats’.”  
“Isabel…” Farlan scolded.  
“Sorry, but that’s what everyone calls us.” Isabel grumbled, kicking a rock.  
After a while, they came to a stop. The cement pathway met with a short fence. On the other side was a long drop off. At the bottom, Levi was glaring a couple men. Farlan leaned over and asked, “That’s our guy right there. We were told to avoid killing the other man if possible.”  
“Why do they want him dead?” Kana asked.  
“He’s been passing pharmaceuticals under the table for a low price. Most of them are poisoned and it’s been killing a lot of people.” Farlan explained. “One of the pharmasists downtown made us a good deal.”  
“What’s that?” Kana asked.  
“If we kill the guy, he’ll give us a bottle of painkillers for your injury.” Farlan explained. He looked back at her and smiled. “And we’re not talking typical stuff. Top of the line.”  
Kana gasped and glared at him. “So you’re doing this for my sake? Please tell me he offered you some money on the side or something!”  
“No way. The medicine he’s offering is worth way more than any money. I specifically asked him for it and he agreed.” Farlan gave her a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about it. We need to get you back in top shape.”  
Kana looked down, her body burning with warmth and happiness. These people were so kind and good to her. When she looked back up, she could have sworn she saw appeasement in Levi’s eyes, but he turned back to the men in the alley too quickly. She glanced at the gear that was on their hips.  
That morning, she’d discovered that they each had their own sets of gear. They didn’t say anything about where they’d gotten it or how they’d learned to use it, but that didn’t matter right now. It would make it hugely easy for them to complete this job.  
Levi ordered, “Farlan is going to hold the other guy back while I kill the drug dealer. Isabel, Kana, you two will remain up here and keep watch. If you see anyone else coming, give us a shout and we’ll get out of here.” He looked back at them. “Understood?”  
They both nodded their heads.  
Leaning over the fence, she and Isabel watched as Farlan and Levi used their gear to swing down to the roofs on either side of the men. They had no idea the hell that was about to descend on them. In a swift move, both of them jumped down. Farlan had tackled the one guy to the ground while Levi pulled out his knife. His initial attack just barely missed, but he spun around, going for his neck. The second hit nicked his neck and the guy let out a scream and grabbed it, dancing back out of his reach.  
Kana looked over and saw a group of guys running down the alley in response to the original guy’s scream. Isabel shouted, “Look out guys! There’s more!” She jumped up and took a hold of Kana. Using her gear, they swung down, cutting off some of the group and sending them down into the ground. Isabel swung kicked another in the head while Kana punched one and flipped him into the next guy.  
One guy grabbed Farlan and Isabel ran for him. “Farlan!” She went to rip the guy off, when she realized another was coming towards her. Levi intercepted. But the man’s blade hit Levi between his neck and shoulder, near his collarbone. He winced for only a moment before kicking him back and going for the guy on Farlan. Within moments, he had them all backing up.  
Kana saw their target, the guy with the bleeding neck, running away. She and Isabel ran for him. Isabel dropped down and tripped him while Kana kneed his head into the pavement and flipped on over. She turned around to go back for the finishing blow, but Levi’s knife was already through his neck and finishing the job.  
Farlan glared at the remaining guys who all ran away in terror. He chuckled. “We did it. No casualties.” He looked over when Levi dropped to one knee.  
Isabel knelt down, “Brother!” She put her hand on his wound and frowned, looking up at Farlan. “He’s bleeding really bad.”  
“I’m fine.” Levi snapped, standing up.  
Kana frowned. She was a Slayer, therefore she could last a lot longer with a bad injury. But Levi was human, and humans were delicate when it came to blood loss. Farlan and Isabel both helped Levi walk and they quickly made their way back to their home.

 

That night, Kana was looking at Isabel curiously while she lay on the bed, flipping through a book. Kana asked, “Are you reading that?”  
Isabel shook her head. “Not really. It has a lot of pretty pictures in it. Will you read it to me?”  
“That one is missing a lot of pages.” Kana confessed.  
“I know… read what you can? We’ll make up the rest.” Isabel giggled.  
She had started to agree, when she noticed that the ointment she’d been using on her injury was still in the room. “Gimme a sec.” She picked it up. Levi would be needing to treat his injury again. And if it was still here, then he hadn’t used it at all today. With a knife like what hit him, he was at a high-risk for infection.  
Kana tapped on the door to his room. “Levi?”  
She heard a hateful hiss through the door, “What do you want?”  
She frowned and pushed the door open. “Do you want some help? That injury is probably in an awkward place to try to put wrap on.” She blushed a bit. His shirt was off and he was struggling to get tape around and over his shoulder blade. He glared at her when she opened the door.  
“I don’t need your help.” He snarled at her. “Go away.”  
“You didn’t put ointment on it. It’ll get infected.” Kana told him.  
Levi snarled and shouted at her, “What part of go away don’t you understand!? Get out! I don’t need your damn help!”  
Kana flinched at his hateful words. “I just… thought… I could repay you… for getting that medicine for me.”  
“Get out! Now!” Levi snarled at her.  
Kana took a deep shuddering breath. He watched her expression twist painful as though she were trying to avoid crying. He narrowed his eyes. Why the hell would she be getting upset? She set the ointment down and hoarsely whispered, “Make sure you put some of this on. You don’t want to get an infection.”  
Kana closed the door behind her and took slow deep breaths. She headed for the main room so Isabel wouldn’t see her tear up, but she gasped when she saw Farlan was out there, reading a book. He looked up with a sad smile. Kana rubbed her eyes and whispered, “S-sorry, I didn’t realize you were – “  
“It’s okay, Kana. Don’t be upset. I overheard.” Farlan told her. “He wasn’t mad at you, he just refuses to let anyone see him when he feels weak. You didn’t do anything wrong.”  
She sniffed a bit and mumbled, “I just… wanted to help.”  
“He’s the kind of guy that won’t accept help. He’ll do things on his own until the day he dies.” Farlan chuckled. “Just relax. Get some sleep.”

Kana walked back inside early one afternoon. It’d been about a week since they’d gotten those pain killers and they were really helpful. Unfortunately, she was having to take about one a day to keep the pain quelled and the bottle would only last so long.  
Farlan looked over and welcomed her back. When she started to step inside, he put his hands up quickly. “W-Wait! Levi is on one of his cleaning sprees! Take your shoes off!”  
Kana laughed and yanked them off, kicking them back outside and walked on in. She asked, “Where’s Isabel?”  
“In her room. She’s the messiest so Levi grounds her to her bedroom when he cleans.” Farlan explained. Kana nodded and made her way down the hall. She saw Levi sweeping and she jumped over his dirt pile. It earned her a glare but he said nothing.  
She paused, looking back at him. When she did, she happened to notice him grip his shoulder and wince. She frowned and quickly carried on. His wound was still bothering him so much?   
She pushed open the door to Isabel’s room. The chipper girl looked up at her with a bright smile. “Kana-san! Welcome back. Where’d you go?”  
“I… picked something up for you.” Kana admitted, digging in her bag. She pulled out the Chinese bracelet that Isabel had been looking at before.   
Isabel gasped and shot up when she saw it. She screamed happily, “Kana-san! You’re the best! Thank you!” She took it from her and slipped it on her wrist. After admiring it a moment, she turned and hugged Kana as tight as she could. “I’m so glad we found you, Kana-san…”  
Kana blushed at her words.  
Even when dinner time came and went, Isabel was admiring her bracelet. Farlan chuckled at her and gave her a nugie. “You really like that bracelet, huh?”  
Isabel nodded her head rapidly.  
Kana smiled at the two, but her gaze went to Levi. He was always quiet, but today he was looking really distant. He hadn’t even called her stupid all day long. But more than anything, she was noticing the paling of his skin and the sweat collecting on his forehead. Something was wrong with him, but she didn’t dare ask.   
For the next week or so, she kept a close eye on Levi. Each day, he continued to look worse. She knew that Farlan was starting to notice, but like her, he kept quiet. His skin was losing so much color that she was able to start seeing his veins showing through and he looked sore – his movements were getting stiff and slow.  
Finally, one day, Kana was to the breaking point. She knew that he didn’t want help, but she was about to force it on him whether he wanted it or not. Isabel and Farlan had gone to check on any new jobs while the two of them went out in search of food.  
She kept stopping every few steps because Levi was moving fairly slow. Kana stopped and looked back at him. He glared at her and demanded, “What?”  
She glared back at him and scolded, “Will you please drop this tough guy act? You’re in bad shape. That wound is infected isn’t it?” As she spoke, Kana went for his sleeve, to try and see the wound.   
Levi pushed her back, but he stumbled a bit and snapped, “Back off! I’m fine! I told you I don’t need your help.”  
“Obviously you do!” Kana yelled. “You’ve been getting worse each day.”  
“That’s none of your concern.” Levi started walking on. “Let’s just get our damn food and move on.”  
Kana grabbed his collar and pulled him back. “Knock it off! I’m helping you whether you want me to or not!”  
His hand went to his knife again and he snarled, “Lay a hand on me and I swear I will fucking kill you!”  
She grabbed his collar by both hands and yelled, “Why are you do damned determined to do everything alone!? Is your pride so great that you’d rather die than get help!? Or are you so afraid of people betraying you!? There are people around you who only want to help you! So just let me help you for once, you don’t have to be alone when it comes to everything!”  
He gritted his teeth but his eyes were a little wide. He’d never been spoken to in this way before. His eyes narrowed back and he was ready to yell at her, but he couldn’t find a reason to. It pissed him off that she wasn’t afraid of him, that she wasn’t backing down.  
No… No it didn’t…  
It wasn’t rage he felt. It wasn’t anger. He felt like another piece of him broke. This girl was willing to help him for no reason, even if it meant facing his rage. She was forcing her way into his soul and piece by piece, he was letting her. He gripped her hands on his collar and growled, “I swear… you…”  
Kana’s eyes widened when she felt Levi going limp in her hold.  
Levi relaxed his body and he felt himself collapse against her. He felt he could have forced himself to stay strong, but the girl was making him feel weak, vulnerable, exposed. Part of him was frightened by this feeling, but another part, welcomed it. He was mildly conscious as she lifted him up and carried him back to their home.  
He felt her set him down on his bed, but his weakened body couldn’t hold him up. “Levi…?”  
He started to come back and shifted, growling, “What?”  
“Will you let me help you this time?” Kana asked softly. He could hear the worry and fear thick in her voice. He saw the wraps and ointment next to him on the bed and he shook his head.  
“I still don’t need your damn help.” Levi snapped, pushing her back. “Now let me be.”  
Kana sighed and went to her room. She started collecting up hers and Isabel’s dirty clothes to put in a basket. Their room was definitely the messiest in the house. She felt bad. She was getting free rent, so she should do better about keeping it nice.  
She was startled when she heard the door open. Levi leaned against her door, but his eyes were glazed over and distant. The supplies were in his hand. Kana went to him, but he shoved the supplies out to her and sat on the bed. He refused to look at her, but she could see in the rest of his body language. He wanted her help, but refused to ask for it. She smiled to herself and let the door shut.  
She hesitated, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. She felt like if she breathed wrong, he would turn on her and yell at her. But she was starting to understand this Levi much better. He was a lot like her. He didn’t want to burden others with his problems. He wanted to stay strong in everyone’s eyes. But she wanted him to not be afraid to be himself. He didn’t need to stay strong in front of her. He’d always be strong to her, no matter what.  
She finished unbuttoning the shirt and slid it down off his shoulders, revealing his small, but well toned torso. He took her breath away and it made her blush. She realized she’d never actually seen her captain without his shirt off. So badly, she wanted to reach out and trace his muscles, but she had to remember they didn’t have that kind of relationship.  
Her eyes went to the dark red and purple cut on his shoulder. There were red streaks stretching out across his skin. It had gotten so bad.   
Levi glared at Kana as she looked at his wound. She would make a terrible doctor. The severity of the wound was written all over her face. He snapped, “Will you quit dawdling and just clean it up already?” When she looked at him, he hissed, “And if you tell anyone about this, I will kill you.”  
He was answered by her delicate fingers reaching up to his forehead and gently resting there. His eyes widened at the feeling that went through him. Her simple touch made his heart sputter and he felt a warm spread through him, like a poison. Her eyes were so soft as she whispered, “You have a bad fever. I was afraid of that. You’ll need to stay in bed for at least a day or so.” She poured some alcohol on the clothe and pressed it to his wound. He gritted his teeth and glared at her. He started to threaten her again when she calmly whispered, “You’re not fooling me, Levi. You won’t kill me.”  
He snarled, “Are you so sure?” He winced when she poured more on it and he felt the sizzling sensation, causing his fingers to clench. “If you keep doing that, I will!”  
“If I don’t clean this wound out, then you’ll never heal.” Kana retorted, but her words made his eyes go to her stomach. She continued, “You don’t scare me Levi. You wouldn’t kill someone for helping you, no matter how scary you acted.”  
Levi gritted his teeth and let his bangs cover his eyes. He felt himself breaking more and more. This girl was destroying his entire façade and slowly pulling out the real him. He cared so little for anyone except his closest comrades. But even so he still distanced himself; he had to be strong at all times for them – to protect them. But with this woman, it wasn’t the same. Suddenly, he felt like the one that needed to be protected. The vulnerabilities that he’d hidden his entire life, the insecurities he masked with anger, she was stripping his mask and his walls and revealing them. So he could finally let them go.  
He could feel how much she cared for him. How much she had always cared for him. But why? He had felt like she saw through him since the moment they met. As though she already knew all of his secrets, his fears, his dreams and aspirations. It was like she had searched every crevasse of his soul before he’d even lain eyes on her.  
As his thoughts had wandered, he hadn’t realized that she’d finished dressing his wound and was wrapping it up. She was careful as she wrapped the tape around the bandage to hold it on. When she finished, she asked, “Do you need help getting back to your room?”  
He glared at her. “I can walk fine, thank you.” He got up, his legs a little uneasy. He could feel it now, the fever she was talking about. He was panting and felt hot.  
Kana got up as well and told him, “I’ll bring you some ice water and a cold clothe to help your fever down.”  
He glared at her. “I don’t need you to baby me.”  
Kana smiled brightly at him and asked, “I know you don’t. Will you let me, anyway?”  
His eyes widened and he stared at her in shock. He looked away and sighed. “Fine.”  
He rested in his bed for the rest of the day and night. Kana had brought him a drink and several times she changed out the clothe for his forehead. By the time he fell asleep that night, he felt better and had found himself looking forward to her visits. She asked him how he felt every time, even after he snapped at her for being stupid because his answer didn’t change.  
He was so rude and heartless towards her, but she just smiled at him.  
It broke him.  
He glared at the ceiling. He couldn’t handle these weird feelings that were filling him. He needed to go back to being cold and angry. He knew what to do with those feelings. These brought a foreign warmth to him. He was afraid of them. He clenched his hands on the sheets. So he had to bury them and stop feeling them.  
He was better off being mad, because then, he knew what to take his rage out on. He knew how to quell those emotions.


	91. Backlashing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended Listening:  
> Backlashing - 10 Years

The next morning, Meria was knelt down in the back room. In front of her was a small flower. It had red petals with black tips and the stem of it was just barely starting to turn brown on the ends. Her gaze was filled with sadness as she closed her eyes, clasping her hands together. At first her words were barely more than a mumble. She could hear the sounds outside of animals acknowledging the day and of Squad Levi beginning to stir. The sun shone just enough in through the window that her fading crimson hair brightened with an orange glowing halo around her head.  
For now things were peaceful, but soon there would be chaos. She wasn’t sure how long she had.  
“Dear God, will no one get out of here alive? Lost your head int his new medicine floating in the sky. Heavy clouds come crashing down harder every time. Sink or swim in these loaded fantasies, flooding out your mind. Fear god for now you’ve gone and lost sight of land. Drunk with power, your final hour is running out of sand.”

A woman with a black mask was walking alongside a few military policemen. The streets were filled with people but she kept glancing over, seeing men in Survey Corps uniforms. They looked bored. They looked like they needed something to do. A slow, sadistic smile curved her pale red lips behind the comfort of her mask. She growled at her escort. The quickly hushed her as they continued walking.  
When they rounded a corner, they were cast in darkness and her escort told her. “Wait here. They’ll be arriving shortly.” Before the MPs walked away. As they said, not even a few moments later, a few men, she recognized as higher ups from the Military Police, strolled in.  
The first one spoke, “Commander Nile asked us to come here and speak to him. What’s the meaning of this? Where is he?”  
The small woman in front of them laughed. A moment later, an eerie silence settled around them. She fanned her arms out and twirled around on her toes. A tune was stuck in her head and she sang,  
“Hung by your self-righteous hands, get ready to meet your maker now. Backlashing back at you, liar. Back at you, run coward.”  
The area was suddenly filled with screams of terror and blood was splattered all across the walls as the woman effortlessly tore through flesh and bone, scattering the pieces around her like crimson flowers in the field. The blood of her comrads lingered on her as she lifted her hood, revealing her crimson hair and turning around as the two MPs who’d escorted her walked up.  
One of them lowered his head and whispered, “I apologize, my squad, but I ask that your death serve our cause in the end.”  
The other man was shaking and terrified. He demanded, “What is going on!? Why did you kill them? Mijore!? What is the meaning of this!?”  
The man beside him side before looking at the woman standing in a puddle of blood. He said, “Regretfully, it appears he doesn’t understand. You’ll need to kill him as well, Mijore.”  
The woman laughed and the tip of a blade revealed itself as she suddenly charged at the other MP. His scream lasted only a second before settling with the rest of the silence.  
“Backlashing back at you, liar.”

Demi was pulling on her uniform after shaking her hair free of the water left over from her shower. She was in Eren’s room now, because the last several nights she’d slept in his room so her uniform was always in here. So far, no one, not even the captain complained about her staying in here with him. Then again, no one complained about Tsuki and Jean sharing a room either. She glanced up at the window, memories of her dream ringing in her head. She could also see Eren staring at her in the reflection. He soft asked, “What’s wrong?”  
He stepped up behind her, his hands resting on her arms and his tender lips brushed her shoulder, breezed up her neck and then softly kissed under her ear. He whispered questions that were too inaudible and gentle for her to hear, so she answered the first question. “I was remembering my dream. There was a phrase in it that won’t get out of my head.”  
“What’s that?” Eren asked curiously, wanting to soothe his lover.  
“Bear the truth when the storm comes through, with hell and high tide. Tip the scales and drive the nails in deeper every time. Dead ahead again, due to medicine, heavy clouds collide, backlashing back at you.”  
Eren’s brows furrowed as he questioned, “What does that mean?”  
“I have no idea.” Demi confessed. “But I just can’t stop thinking about it…”  
Eren softly turned her around and asked, “What about thinking about me instead?” His voice was a chuckle, but he kissed her several times, wanting to free her mind of it.

It was unsually chilly this morning. There was a nice heavy fog out and it settled heavily over the ground and mad it difficult to see what she was doing. Tsuki had her hair pulled back out of her face. Despite her busting her ass every day trying to control her powers and bring Kana back, the captain had put her on stall cleaning duty. Ever since the Wall incident, he’d become so cold towards all of them and without Kana around, she felt like there was a still a weight settling on the squad. They had just gotten her best friend back long enough to argue and fight, and for her to disappear again.  
Her gaze shifted towards the sky as she leaned her hands on the top of her shovel. Jean had worried about her being too exhausted, so he’d volunteered to help her. At first Levi had complained about him slacking off, but said he’d allow it if they completed the job in half the time. So Jean was busting his ass while she just lingered here, staring off into space. She wanted to hurry and return to training with Meria, but she just found herself fumbling along.  
Jean walked up, pulling down his hood and asked, “Are you alright, Tsuki?”  
Tsuki glanced back at him and nodded, her ocean blue eyes going to the messy stall floor she hadn’t even begun on. She told him, “Yeah I’m fine.”  
“Worn out, huh?” He flashed her a sympathetic smile. “You haven’t been sleeping much and you’re constantly using your energy all day every day.”  
Tsuki shook her head, causing her white curls to bob and it made her look so attractive to him. “I’m not that tired, Jean, but thanks. I’ve been making lots of progress with Meria, but I’m just thinking about what I can do to clear the gap. For some reason, I’m able to focus my power, but it’s almost as though I don’t have enough to open that far of a gap back up again.”  
“Are you maybe still exhausted from the first time?” His voice was thick with worry.  
Tsuki’s gaze softened. He worried so much about her that it made her feel guilty. “Jean, I – “  
“Are you finished?” Levi walked into the barn and glared at the two of them who appeared to be doing nothing. “As I expected, neither of you are doing your task. This place still looks as bad as when you started. Jean quit slacking off, Tsuki, hurry up. Meria’s ready to start your training.”  
Jean gaped and quickly said, “Sir, with all due respect, she’s really exhausted, can she rest for a bi – “  
“I think we’d all love the luxury of resting, Jean.” Levi snapped. “But none of us have the time for that. While she sleeps, the wall could come down and humanity could lose. No, she needs to get back to training because she’s not of any use here.” He turned and walked back out of the barn.  
Jean gritted his teeth and glared at the door way, but Tsuki put her hand on his and quickly said, “Please relax, Jean. He’s right. I need to get back to training.”  
“I just don’t get why he’s got to be so cold.” Jean stated.  
“We all function differently.” Tsuki stated.

Meria had not only been training Tsuki but had also been helping Leah and Demi get a bet control of their weapons. She went back over all the fundamentals since none of them had their memory from the beginning so she knew that was where they needed the most help. And it had been helping Tsuki. The fundamentals of energy distribution was really putting a dent in her training. She was able to open portals now, but to when and where, there was no telling. There was still something missing.  
“How much longer is this going to take?” Levi demanded, causing Meria to turn around.  
She had been leaning against a storage barrel, nibbling on a slice of bread and watching Tsuki open portal after portal. Even though she was able to open them, there was another issue they were facing. The power it took to open each portal was sending energy flying in all forms in all directions. Lightning and wind and all kinds of elements were being thrown around like childrens toys and making it impossible for them to get close enough to see inside of the time tear.  
She looked back at the angry captain and smirked, “I don’t know. Everyone learns at different speeds. She’s made a lot of progress for less than half a week. I think she’ll make another step or two soon.”  
“And then how long from there?” Levi demanded. “We’re wasting time.”  
Meria frowned at his tone and said, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”  
“That’s not an acceptable answer.” He barked back.  
Meria laughed softly and crossed her arms. “Oh it’s not? I didn’t realize you were my captain as well and I was required to have your approval.” She looked up at the sky that still had a few clouds in it from the last storm. She felt a soft wind blow through and her gaze turned towards the walls in the distance. She whispered, “But I do understand your rush, trust me. I know how valuable our time is and what kind of circumstance we’re in.”  
“You sure don’t act like it.” He growled.  
Meria chuckled and asked, “Are you always so uptight? Getting mad about something you can’t control only ruins what life you have. Relax. If people die while I’m training them then it’s on my shoulders, not yours.”  
Levi paused and watching her with intense scrutiny. “You’re prepared for a responsibility like that?”  
“You realize I bear the responsibility for the death of my husband and destruction of my village, yes?” Meria asked him, causing his eyes to widen. “Any death after that is meaningless.”  
He looked back at Tsuki who was struggling with all of her might to open the portal back up, but her skin was slick with sweat and she was panting heavily. She dropped to one knee and gasped for air. He asked Meria, “You’re the reason your husband is dead?”  
“I made a mistake. And he paid the price.” Meria said. “Perhaps this is my way to repent. Or maybe I think I can fix things with what remains of my family. Slayers lives are filled with nothing but tragedy. Ever since that accident. We gave birth to sin we can never take back.” Her voice lingered for several moments before she added, “And if we don’t get Kana back, that sin will erase humanity. Forget the titans.”  
Levi’s eyes narrowed and he demanded, “What does Kana have to do with fixing a sin you people caused?”  
Meria’s eyes were filled with an unfathomable sadness. One that was far beyond any he could comprehend. A sadness that was worse than seeing those you’re closest with die. Something worse than death? Something worse than titans? For the first time, he was glad not to be a part of someone else’s nightmare. He was happy in his own, away from whatever pain she endured. She simply answered his question, “I can’t answer that. But perhaps her trip to the past will.”  
“There is nothing good that comes of that past.” Levi barked suddenly.  
Meria paused and looked at him curiously, “You were there?”  
“Yes.” Levi reluctantly answered. He didn’t want to think of that history. Of that time. Of that failure. Of the way he treated her. Of the pain she endured to help them. He wished he could take it all back and give her what she deserved. His hand touched his cravat and the metal ring below the fabric. “She’ll be better off when she returns. The sooner the better.”  
“Every trial makes us who we are.” Meria said. “We can’t regret – “  
“I know.” Levi stated. “I know that. I’ve caused my own fair share of deaths in my time. I know that we can’t regret. Only move forward.”  
Meria smirked. “You are wise for a human.” She admitted. “I know that you’re impatient.” Meria pushed off the barrel and turned to him, dipping her head, causing the pink braid to fall off her shoulder and she told him, “So if you’ll allow me to borrow the slayers, I think there is something I can do to speed things up.”  
Levi’s brows arched. “What’s that?”  
“I need to take them somewhere.” Meria stated.  
Levi felt suspicious of her words. He would normally adamantly deny her the opportunity, but there was something telling him to trust this woman. That her words were good. There was something about her that seemed familiar and he had no choice but to say, “I won’t allow you take the Slayers. Our entire squad will go where you suggest. That way if there’s any tricks, I can protect them.”  
There was a long pause before Meria laughed. “Alright. Fine. But this place might… make humans feel… uneasy. Supposedly, to humans, what they will see is not possible. It will cause strange feelings among them. But if they are strong, it will be fine.”  
Levi nodded and looked at the others. “They are strong. No doubt about that.”  
Meria turned on her heel and without another word, she trotted to the others and clapped, “Alright guys, pack up! We’re going on a field trip!”  
After a few uncertain glances, Demi finally asked, “Where are we going?”  
“I’m going to get all of you some presents.” She giggled. After a bit, they all walked off, getting their things together. Meria noticed that Levi was ordering the rest of the squad to follow suit. She nodded to herself and pulled the flower from her poncho again. She held it out and placed it against the tree. She softly whispered,  
“Run coward, hung by your self-righteous hands. Run coward, get ready to meet your maker now.” She stood back to her feet and whispered to herself, pressing the flower to her chest, “Don’t worry, Kana. I promise… I’ll kill you in the end. If that’s what it takes…”


	92. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also NSFW.... hehe

The next afternoon, Kana was boiling tea over the fire. Levi had been resting in his room still so Farlan had taken the liberty of showing her how to brew his favorite tea. She watched it closely, wanting to make it just right for him. Isabel had gone out to get some food for the evening.  
Kana looked over with surprise when Levi stumbled out into the main room. He sat down at the table and yawned, staring at the empty cup in front of him. Kana hurriedly trotted over to him and poured some of the fresh tea. “Good morning, Levi.”  
He glared at her. His gaze said he was challenging her to tell someone he’d had her helping him that night. She just answered him by keeping the smile on her face and putting the tea back.  
Farlan asked, “How are you feeling? There’s more color back to your cheeks. Kana said you went to sleep as soon as you got home, but like always you wouldn’t tell her what was wrong.”  
Levi glared at Kana. She had kept her word, sincerely.  
Farlan commented, “Be careful, Levi. If you get seriously ill, there’s nothing we can do for you down here. Not until we – “  
The door slammed open and Isabel stormed through the main area. Kana’s eyes widened. She was beaten and bruised up and one of her pig-tails were missing.  
Farlan gasped, “Isabel!? What happened?! You didn’t go to the lower district, did you?”  
She gritted her teeth. “N-Nothing! I just fell down!”  
“What happened to your hair?” Levi demanded. Kana could see the dark rage swirling in his eyes. Her hands tightened. She was ready to jump up and stop him. She knew that he was going to go after whoever harmed the girl.  
With tears in her eyes, she screamed, “It will grow back!” And she ran to her room.  
As soon as Isabel shut the door to her room, Levi shot to his feet. There was no mistaking the look in his eyes. It didn’t matter to him that it was an entire group of thugs. It didn’t matter to him that he could be seriously injured or worse. And it certainly didn’t matter to him that he had a fever and his shoulder handicapped him from fighting. Farlan had chased Isabel into her room, hoping to calm down and help the crying, tortured girl.  
But Kana was after Levi. She grabbed his arm before he could start pulling his shoes on. Kana snapped, “What do you think you’re doing!?”  
He glared at her. The gaze was so intense, she thought it could have killed her if it had a weapon. This was a way she had never seen her captain. He had always been so reserved and in control of his emotions. But this man was opposite. He was a firecracker waiting to explode. His emotions were on a livewire and out of control.  
This was the real him.  
“Let. Go. Of me.” He ordered darkly.  
Her eyes narrowed. She was afraid of this person. She could feel to her very soul that if she gave him a reason, that he’d turn his anger on her. But that thought gave her a completely different idea. If he did, in fact turn on her instead, then he wouldn’t go after those guys.  
He wouldn’t be in danger.  
Levi ripped his arm away and started for the door but Kana cut him off. “You running headlong into that group will only get you killed! I get it! What they did to Isabel pisses me off just as much as it pisses you off! But you’re only going to hurt yourself and that’ll just upset Isabel more!”  
“I don’t care. I’ll kill as many as I can until – “ Levi went to go around her, but Kana put her hands up over the door. His glare turned something more than hatred. It turned to complete blackness. He was about to snap. She could see it. She’d felt that kind of rage before. It was the calm before the storm. The silence before the explosion. “Get out of my way. Now.”  
“I won’t let you get yourself killed for nothing!” Kana yelled at him. She gasped when he grabbed her by her shirt and slammed her against the door.  
“It’s not nothing! You don’t understand anything!” Levi shouted darkly at her. “You’re just some girl that wandered in here! Now because of you Isabel is hurt and unless you want me to kill you instead, I suggest you get out of here! Get out of this house and never come back! I will kill all of them for messing with us! This is the last time! And if you keep trying to stop me, you’ll join them!”  
Kana winced when he slammed her against the door. Her hands were shaking, badly. She was really scared. Scared of a man she thought she never would be. But this was how he felt… without the reserves he had to place on himself as a captain. When he could act selfishly without his soldiers dying. This was truly him… She started to reach her hand out to him but he grabbed it with his free one and slammed it back, next to her head. Kana whispered, “You can scream and yell at me all you want. I’m not letting you out of this door.”  
Levi moved in on her, his dark rage-filled glare only intensifying. “What the hell does any of this have to do with you!? Why the fuck are you involving yourself in this!?”  
She touched his hand holding her up. She couldn’t lie right now. She couldn’t even imagine trying. “Because… Levi… I love you…”  
“You… what…?” Levi snapped. For a moment, the hatred started to leave his gaze, replaced with something else, but just as quickly as it started to falter, he punched the wood of the door next to her head. She felt splinters break a part and one cut her upper cheek. His face was so close to hers, she couldn’t breathe. “What kind of bull shit is that?”  
“It’s not…” Kana whispered. “I really – “  
“Stop fucking with us!” He screamed at her. “You’re shrouded in mystery and lies and then you say shit like that! What do you want from us!? What kind of game are you playing!?”  
Kana couldn’t look at him anymore. Her heart was pounding so hard and tears were threatening to escape her eyes. She got her wish. He was definitely pissed off at her now. Now it was just whether or not her soul could bear the hurt she knew was coming. “I’m not lying…” Is all she could say.  
She gasped when he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her from the door. She felt him yank her forward and a noise she barley realized was her own escaped her. She didn’t know if she could tolerate the emotional pain if he actually hit her. She could handle anyone betraying her, but not him.  
But to her surprise, he didn’t.  
He yanked her up to his lips and kissed her roughly. Passionately and roughly. His lips were so hard on hers that it brought tears to her eyes. It wasn’t the kind of kiss she’d ever wanted from him. But like always, when his lips touched hers, she felt like she could read his mind. He was hurting and he was hiding behind anger. He blamed himself for what happened to Isabel. He should have been there to protect her.  
Now all he wanted was revenge. It was the only way to make himself feel better for what he’d done. She started to reach up to touch his face, but he pushed her hand away. He pushed her back against the wall now, pinning her hands there so she couldn’t defend herself or stop him. Not that she was trying to.  
After a moment, it felt like he was going to break from the kiss, but he bit her lip, causing her gasp and part her lips. He cupped the back of her head and shoved his tongue between her lips. Her body relaxed. She let him do as he pleased. Even in this situation, in this context, the feel of him kissing her so deeply had her heart racing and her body longing for more.  
He finally pulled away and growled. “Do you have a change in opinion yet? Do you want to start telling the truth?”  
“I love you, Levi.”  
Every time she said it, it pissed him off. He was a flaming ball of rage and she kept lying to him. No one could love a monster like him. He didn’t have it in him to let someone love him. He was born to fight and kill, there was no room for love in his heart. So how could she lie to him like this? She was after something. She was trying to break him. He would break her before she got the chance. He would prove that she was lying; that she couldn’t love him. He’d see how far she planned to keep this façade up.  
He gritted his teeth and yanked her away from the wall, his lips crashing back down on hers just as they had before. Her jaw was hurting with the force it took to kiss him back. Her hands were moving, trying to find something as he pushed her along. She caught his shirt in a tight fist and held herself up. She started to trip but he caught her using his arm around her waist.  
Her eyes widened. Even in this flushed wave of rage, he worried about her, protected her. Was all of this just raw rage? Or… was there something more.  
Before she knew it, she was being pushed through a door and her heart stopped for a moment. She was wrong. This was a ruse. He was distracting her so he could throw her out and chase after those guys that hurt Isabel. She gripped his shirt more tightly and hissed against his lips. “Levi, you – “  
Her eyes widened when she fell backwards down on something soft.  
It took her mind several long moments to comprehend anything. Her heart wasn’t even beating, nor was she breathing. She was laying on his bed. His strong arms were holding himself up over her and his face was inches from hers. The tips of his hair brushed her cheeks as she stared up at him, not sure what to do.  
He kissed her again, his words dark on her lips. “Is this what you want then?” He would draw it out of her. He would make her confess she was lying. She wouldn’t take advantage of him. This was it. One of them would break here. He’d force her to tell the truth, he would get the truth one way or another.  
She reluctantly kissed him back, tears stinging her eyes. This wasn’t what she wanted at all, but if it would keep him safe, she would do anything. He started to pull back, but Kana caught him by wrapping her arm around his neck. She could sense something else now. This anger… it was hiding something much more. Feeling. Another feeling he didn’t know what to do with. He allowed himself to fall into a blind rage so he wouldn’t have to feel them.  
She felt him yank his mouth from hers and kiss down her jaw. But they weren’t just simple kisses. They were hard and hurt and made it hard to breathe. But she still felt it. His heart was racing. It was in sync with hers. He started biting at her shoulder and it made more tears form. He was unexpectedly forceful from her captain. She could hardly believe they were the same people. She gripped his shoulders and tried to push him up, but it only made him bite down harder.  
Kana let out a pained moan and immediately withdrew her hands. Trying to ease him was a bad idea. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. She would just have to endure it until he’d had enough. She felt tears in her eyes. She’d imagined being with Levi so many times. She’d longed for it so many times. But never once had she thought it would go like this. This wasn’t something she could enjoy. This isn’t what she wanted at all.  
But… if she gave herself up, maybe he wouldn’t be so angry. Maybe he’d be calm enough to not go hurt himself. In exchange for that slim chance, she would let him have her any way he so chose. Her body relaxed underneath his. She felt the bitemarks and the bruises reaching all the way down her sternum now. His lips were so relentless and rough, her skin tingled in pain. But she realized they were starting to soften. She felt less teeth and more tongue. So she quietly whispered,   
“Do you feel better…?”

This seemed to shock him and he raised his head. His teeth were gritted and he started to yell at her again, but his gaze lingered on her face. Immediately, the anger left his gaze and those silver eyes melted. Now there was nothing but fear and worry in that gaze. He hoarsely asked, “Why are you crying?”  
He was so startled by the sight of her tears, that it drowned the anger that was covering the confusion and anxiety inside of him. If she had been lying about her feelings for him, then why would she cry over this? Why wouldn’t she fight back against him? Why was she just letting him do this? This… wasn’t him…  
“Because… Levi… this isn’t what I want…” Kana tried to keep from more tears escaping but they still did. “But I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want to lose you. So if doing this will make you feel less anger… I’m prepared for that… but… I don’t think I could ever be happy about it.”  
He stared at her in shock before his gaze slowly went down to her neck and the bruises that cascaded down her sternum. His arms started to tremble and he sat back away from her. “Kana… I…” He looked away. He had never been in such a fit of rage before. He never thought he’d do something as stupid as this. His hands were clenched into fists. “I’m so sorry…I…”  
Kana reached up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head against her chest. He let her do as she wished. For what he’d done, she could do whatever she wanted. His eyes widened when he felt her fingertips brush through his hair, gently stroking his scalp. He felt himself relaxing almost immediately as she cooed to him, “You don’t have to be sorry, Levi… I… purposely directed your anger at me, so you wouldn’t go hurt yourself in a senseless fight.”  
“Yeah and look at what I did in return.” He gritted his teeth. “I couldn’t… calm down until I hurt you… what kind of monster is like that?”  
“You’re not a monster.” Kana growled at him. “This wasn’t just you. I’ve been so mad that I couldn’t think clearly. We’ve all been there, Levi. I wouldn’t let you fight, so you were just trying to find something else to take your anger out on. And I was the only one around.”  
He gritted his teeth and gripped her shirt, pressing his face more firmly to her chest. For the first time in all his life, he wanted to cry… and not care that she saw. The way she held him, the way she spoke to him, it made him feel safe. He was truly safe with this woman. She would not betray him. “Was it the truth?”  
“Huh?” Kana asked, her hand running down his back.  
“Do you… actually love me?”  
Kana’s gaze softened. She ran her hand along his back, her mind reeling back to when she first saw him in the alley when he had challenged her to a little match. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head. “I’ve loved you… since I first laid eyes on you.”  
“How… after what I’ve just done?” Levi asked hoarsely, too afraid to lift his head and look at her.  
Kana moved them around so her back was leaning against the wall. She had never seen this side of him before, but she didn’t mind it. She wanted to know his true feelings, his thoughts, his emotions. In her era, she could never have broken through his shell. Her hand stopped. Was that because… in her era, all of this had happened? Was he searching for her to remember what had gone on between them? It would make sense. Why he was constantly taking notice of her, helping her, trusting her. Her arms tightened around him and she whispered, “Back home… there was a friend of mine… who would do anything for me. They cared so much about me. But there was an accident… and I blamed everything on them. They tried to talk to me, to calm me down, but I just screamed in their face. It got to the point… I was willing to hurt them to make myself feel better.” She softly cupped his face and made him look up. “You and I are much more alike than you realize. What you did was just an act of humanity. I’ve been there, too. You shouldn’t feel any shame.”  
“Yes, but did you hurt your friend?” Levi growled, his hands clenching again. “What I – “  
“I hurt them in a far worse way.” Kana whispered. She brushed her hand along his face and whispered, “Levi… what do you feel towards me right now?”  
His eyes widened. He stared at her for the longest time before looking away. “I have no right to feel for you what I do. How could your own feelings not have changed? Why do you care so much about me?” He pulled away from her, leaning against the wall beside her. He was trying to put on an act of defiance, but she saw him hesitate. He didn’t want to be anymore away from her than she from him.  
“You could probably fool most people. But not me. Nor Isabel.” Kana explained. “You’re much more compassionate than you realize. I mean…” Her gaze softened. “A few months ago I was nothing but a stranger, and you’ve taken several chances to tell me you don’t want me around – “  
“I didn’t mean any of it.” Levi quickly told her. “I just wanted to protect them. The truth is… I didn’t want you to leave anymore than Isabel.”  
“I know.” Kana admitted. When he looked at her questioningly, she went on. “I think I have you mostly figured out, Levi. Sometimes you still surprise me. But you’re a lot like me. When you’re scared of your own feelings, you hide them behind anger. Whether or not you know it, you’re just looking for that one person who will see through it and still want you.”  
Levi looked down at his hands. “The difference between us though, is that you can be gentle. I saw you with Isabel. She loves you. Because you can take care of her.”  
Kana smiled to herself and played with the short strands of her hair. She whispered delicately, “You can be gentle, too, you know.”  
He stared at her face, trying to read her expression. He bit the inside of his cheek. “How can you think that?” He demanded.   
But when she turned her head and gave him such a bright smile, he wasn’t expecting his heart to start hammering inside of his chest. He hadn’t realized, no, he had realized it. For a while now. Whenever she smiled, his heart longed for it. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on. Her crimson hair was always drifting in the wind and her eyes were always full of wonder and kindness. She told him, “Just trust me.”  
He didn’t realize he was leaning towards her, but he slowly reached his hand up. His fingers were trembling on her cheek. He couldn’t deny it. There was no denying it. “I do. Kana, I love you.” Her eyes widened, but as he leaned in, she closed her eyes, ready to accept his lips upon her own. He softly asked, “Let me try again…?”  
He could hear her heart matching the rhythm of his. But without even a moment’s hesitation, she whispered, “Yes.”  
And before she knew it, he’d tipped his head and was kissing her gently. His lips were completely different than they’d been a little bit ago. This time, she barely felt them there, and it had her begging for more. Every time one of them started to pull away to breathe, the other went right back in, wanting more and hating the separation. She gripped his hair a little tight, signaling that she never wanted him to stop kissing her. He was responding.  
He pulled her away from the wall and gently lay her out on the bed. His hands ran down her arms and over her shoulders. She instinctively made a noise when the brushed over her breasts and slid on down to the hem of her shirt. The thin fabric was still mostly undone from his attack earlier, but he quickly did away with the rest of the buttons.  
He sat up and drank in her exposed torso. Her cheeks were on fire and she wanted to cover herself up, but the second her arms started to move, he caught them by the elbows and held them down. His gaze lingered on her stomach where the bandages were taped there. He frowned and quietly asked, “It hasn’t gotten any better since the day we met you… why is it not healing, Kana?”  
Kana bit her lip. She hoarsely whispered, “It’s complicated…my body doesn’t heal well…” He hesitated a moment, his fingers gently running over the bandages before his gaze went back up to hers.  
His eyes were so warm, so gentle, he whispered, “You’re… so beautiful, Kana.”  
Her mouth opened. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. To tell him everything she had ever longed to say to him. But he covered her mouth with his own when nothing came out. This kiss was a little deeper, but it wasn’t rough like it had been the first time.   
She felt nothing but love this time.  
When his tongue brushed her bottom lip, she felt like the rest of the world disappeared. Her stomach did a flip and she parted her lips for him. This time, with his tongue against hers, they did their own little dance as they let time fly around them. Somewhere in the mix, he had let her arms ago and her hands slid along his body, tugging at his clothes. She undid the buttons of his shirt, but left part of it tucked in.  
Her eager hands caressed his torso from his neck down to the hem of his pants. He must have enjoyed it because he was making noises similar to hers. She looked up at him and the sight took her breath away. He hovered over her, his expression was nothing but love and affection, but his body was already slick with sweat. The touch of his skin was so hot, she felt herself melting under him. “Levi…” She breathed.  
His body twitched at the sound of her voice and he lowered himself down to her, kissing her again and again. “Yes…?”  
She smiled against his lips. “I told you, you could be gentle.”  
“It’s taking a lot of effort.” He whispered, but he pulled away and his hand rested a top her head. “But I’m so afraid of breaking you… I feel like… I’m just doing it without thinking. I’m going to take care of you, Kana. I swear. You’ll never see that side of me again.”  
Kana was shaking her head. “That’s not what I want, either. I want you to never be afraid. Always show me what you’re feeling. Know that when you come to me with those feelings that I will hold you and calm you. I’ll protect you while you’re vulnerable, I’ll calm your anger, I’ll soothe you when you want to cry. But don’t ever hide those feelings from me, okay?”  
Levi felt his heart start to ache and yearn for the woman below him. Just when he thought his feelings for her couldn’t be stronger, she continued to amaze him. His arm slid around, under her head, holding up while he leaned down and kissed her again. Their lips were so passionate, moving together, as though speaking a language that went without words.  
His lips moved from hers and down her neck. Then they tenderly followed the path of destruction he’d left on her skin before. With each touch of his lips, she felt her body growing hotter and needier. He pressed his body down on her and she could feel how much he needed her as well. A gasp left her lips when she felt him starting to work off her pants. The fabric slid easily down her legs and she helped by wiggling herself out of them. As soon as they were gone, she softly pushed him over onto his back. She kissed along his bare chest, occasionally giving him a nip. Every time she did, he let out a sharp noise of pleasure and she felt him grow against her hip.  
Her hand slid down to the button on his pants and she gasped when he caught her hand. His face was like she had never seen before. It was awash with embarrassment, pleasure, fear, joy, anxiety; it was all twisted up and she thought it was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. He asked, “A-Are you sure… you want to?”  
Kana sat on his hips, her gaze gentle as she asked, “Do you?”  
His breathing was ragged and he whispered, “Of course I do. I do… so much…”  
She leaned down, covering his torso with her body. Her knees bent up to his shoulders, her legs against his sides and her elbows rested on either side of his head. She kissed him passionately and she could feel his breathing getting heavier and heavier. His hands ran up her thighs, grasping her hips. His hands were trembling on her body and it made her smile.  
After several more moments of passionate kissing, she lifted herself up off his body and slid her hands down. This time, she didn’t hesitate to free him from his pants. She sat up and threw the useless material over the side of the bed, immediately covering him back up with her body.  
For the next while, they were nothing but a flurry of kisses. She felt his hot lips all over her and she placed hers anywhere they could reach. They rubbed, stroked, and squeezed anything they could find, the air around them filled with the moans of two lovers finally being satisfied.  
Levi stopped when he hovered over her. His forehead was against hers and he was panting. He watched the blush spread on Kana’s face and a little drip of sweat cascaded down her face and her neck. Her body was so hot. Not just warm, it was hot; a soothing kind of hot that made him feel lost. There was nothing between their skin. He could feel every inch of her rubbing against him. And when she rubbed him a certain way, he grunted with pleasure.  
“Kana…” He moaned softly. He leaned his head down to her chest and kissed her breast. When he reached the peak of the mound, she let out a louder moan and it turned him on more. He loved every sound she made.  
Kana had gripped the sheets between her fingers and arched her back up against him. Her legs shifted, trying to squeeze together, but he softly pushed them apart. Her breathing slowed until it stopped completely. All she could hear was her racing heart. All she felt was anywhere she was touched by him. It felt like he was giving life to her body.  
A shadow loomed over her. He’d covered her body with his own. His hot lips were on hers again. After several moments of passionate kissing, he softly whispered something. At first, she was in too much of a daze to realize what it was, but then her eyes widened with anxiety.  
“Are you ready?”  
Kana closed her eyes as he butterfly kissed down her neck. Every time she felt his teeth, her body pulsed with desire. His hands gently cupped her thighs and pushed them apart. In the next moment, she felt him enter her and it resulted in a moan even louder than the ones before. It made her grip tighten on the sheets and her hips quivered in reaction. For a moment, it was a kind of pain she had never felt, or imagined. Her chest rose and fell rapidly for several moments and tears came to her eyes.  
Levi’s eyes widened when he saw her starting to cry and he quickly reached up and cupped her head. “K-Kana? I-I’m sorry.”  
Kana’s lips were parted, her breathing rough. But she smiled as she looked at him. “It’s okay. It’s worth it.”  
He gritted his teeth and looked away. No one had ever made him feel like this. No one had ever selflessly given their heart and soul to him. No one had seen him so angry and remained near him. She even stayed despite hurting her so badly. She cared for him in a way he never thought he could be cared for. For the first time in his life, all of his guards were down. He was open, he was vulnerable. He was…  
“I love you.” Levi told her, kissing her again. “I love you so damn much…”  
When he started to pump his hips, the moans started to leave her more quickly. She grabbed onto him as though her life depended on it and this seemed to turn him on more. He grunted and pushed deeper into her. This time her moan was much sharper. “Ah- Levi!”  
He smirked against the side of her face and slid his hands down, grasping her hips. He pushed them down so they stayed against the bed and he slid back out of her. She bit her lip, trying to hold back the moan, but it ripped out of her throat when he pushed back in. She felt herself stretching around him, making space for him inside of her. Before long, he was pumping more quickly into her and her body was throbbing with the feeling.  
The level of ecstasy she was feeling was unreal. She was holding him so tight, losing herself in everything around her. He gripped the sheets around her, using them as leverage to push himself deeper into her. It wasn’t till then, till he filled her up, that she felt her body break under the pressure.  
She gasped, her body convulsing underneath his. He pressed his face to her neck, panting, when suddenly she felt him swell even more inside of her. Her fluids seeped around him, spilling out between them.  
Before she knew it, she felt him spill inside of her as well. She gasped into yet another moan as the sensation reached to her very core. He was so hot inside of her and down her leg. Her toes and fingers curled up and her legs tightened around him. Her whole body was throbbing as she moaned out loud for him, which made him twitch and spill even more.  
She kissed him. Desperately. “Levi… I love you…”  
He leaned into her kiss, returning it with all his strength. “I love you too, Kana.”


	93. The Sickness

Demi looked around, seeing that almost the entire squad was all up on their horses. Eren was right beside of her, secured in his saddle, but his hand reached across, entwined with hers. Everything was ready to go. Meria was at the front, on her dapple gray mare, her ruby red eyes were bright and full of life. It seemed strange to her that the woman was so eager and excited all the time. According to her, she lived in nothing but tragedy, and yet here she was, as lively as anyone, if not more.   
Levi pulled himself up onto his horse and asked, “Who are we missing?”  
“Armin and Leah, sir.” Tsuki answered and glanced around.  
His eyes narrowed. “Where are they?”   
Almost as though on cue, Armin trotted out and gave a salute saying, “We might have a problem, sir. I don’t think… it’s a wise idea to go.”  
Hanji frowned, taking note that Meria’s vivid expression suddenly plummeted. A curious Hanji asked, “Why not? What’s wrong?”  
Armin frowned and looked back at the little shack they had been staying in.

Armin finished suiting up quickly and joined the others downstairs who were packing up their things and getting orders from Levi. The first thing he noticed was that Leah, who was always up before him, hadn’t come downstairs yet. After getting his orders and quickly setting his bags by the door, he went back to the top floor and gently knocked on Leah’s door. “Hey Leah, are you up?” Several seconds ticked by and he heard no answer from her. He was positive that he hadn’t seen her out and about. He nervously called again, “Leah?”  
After once again hearing nothing, he opened the door and looked around. Her bed was unmade and he couldn’t see her, but he heard the sound of convulsing and crying. Panicking, he ran into the tiny attached bathroom and saw her leaned over the toilet, violently throwing up. He gasped and rushed to her side, pulling her back and seeing her tear-stained face. Her skin had paled, but her cheeks and eyes were a dark red. From the looks of her, she had been puking like this for a while. Trembling, Armin asked, “Leah? Leah? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”  
“D-death… oh god…” She threw up again before she could say anymore. More tears spilled down her face. “There’s so much. I can taste it. I can smell it. It’s all over me. I can’t… oh god I can’t get it off… please…” Her voice broke off before she started throwing up again. Armin was shocked at what he was seeing. There had been several times that she had felt ill or sick and told him about it, but he had never seen her throw up because of her premintions. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t help but feel that there would be something terrible waiting for them when they left.

“So more than just a few of us are going to die if we go?” Connie demanded with a frown. “That’s reassuring. So then why the hell and where are we going?”  
“I don’t know.” Jean stated, “We haven’t been given any answers. Aparently we can’t know. Which I don’t understand.”  
Meria frowned at the accusation in his voice and she quickly said, “It’s not that you can’t know, it’s that a human wouldn’t understand.”  
“What’s there to understand? You’re taking us to a location right?” Hanji asked, her own curiousity water in a pot about to boil over. She had to know. She had to understand.  
“I’m taking you to the place where I was born.” Meria stated, watching the faces of the humans around her.  
Connie snidely growled, “Are you kidding? What are you dragging us along to be your body guards while you go on some nostalgic trip?” Honestly, he cared little for why they were going. He just didn’t like the idea of them having to cross titan territory to get there.  
“What good is that going to do us?” Levi asked. “How is going there going to help Tsuki bring Kana back?”  
Tsuki raised her hand suddenly, hoping to silence everyone and reclaim their attention. “Have I been there before?”  
Meria smiled and twirled her little braid around her finger. She said, “Well… very briefly. And Amaak has. That is where he was born as well.”  
Those words finally clicked something into place for Demi. Her emerald eyes widened and she quickly said, “You’re a weapon, aren’t you?”  
“Bingo!” Meria laughed and rested a hand on the horn of the saddle. “I was wondering when you’d figure it out. So then, are we going or not, Captain?” Meria asked, turning to Levi.  
“We’re obviously not going.” Jean barked. “Leah has predicted that so many people are going to die. And we can’t trust you if you won’t give us concrete answers.”  
“My answers should not be the justification for if you trust me. Your instinct should do that. Do you feel you can’t trust me, Jean Kirchstein?”  
“Is that a joke? Of course that’s how I feel.” He looked at Tsuki and saw that there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Amaak was on her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. He frowned a bit. But if this woman wasn’t lying and this was a chance to get a better control of her powers, then Tsuki wouldn’t be wearing herself out so much anymore. She could go back to being herself and not as exhausted and tired. He sighed and looked back at them. “But it’s not my choice, I suppose.”  
Levi’s gaze was completely vacant of any emotion. After a long pause he asked Armin, “Is Leah in any condition to go along?”  
Armin’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Considering how bad her illness is this time, I believe our best course of action is to – “  
“Our best course of action has done nothing but get soldiers killed. We’re going. We’ll take this risk.” Levi stated, but despite his hard glare after Armin trotted back to the shack to fetch Leah, he wondered in the back of his mind if he was making another mistake. Everything was screaming at him that this was a trap. That this woman wasn’t on their side, but she seemed to know that most about training the Slayers. She had a better grasp of their situation than any of them. And he couldn’t risk her running off with their best soldiers and not returning.  
Armin walked back inside, seeing a still weak and sickly Leah hesitantly climbing back into bed. She paused and looked back at him. “What’s wrong, Armin? Why are you looking at me like that?” He paused suddenly and her eyes widened. “They’re not… still planning on going are they?”  
Armin slowly nodded his head and Leah suddenly began screaming, “Why!? How could he!? If it’s this bad – “  
“I know Leah.” Armin whispered, feeling pathetic. He couldn’t do anything to help her and he was too frightened to stand against orders. “I don’t know why he made this decision, but he did. We can’t do anything about it now.”  
“N-No… I don’t… you guys can’t… you can’t go!” Leah screamed, her eyes wide. She reached out, taking Armin’s hands in her own and cried, “You’re the smart one, tell them that they can’t go! Please… Armin…!”  
“Leah…” Armin’s gaze softened, feeling terrible for not being able to do what she asked. “You know that even if I did that… he wouldn’t – “  
“Then I’ll tell them. I tell them they can’t go.” Leah gripped his hand and stormed past them. She was still wearing her long gray shirt and sweats with a blue scarf that went around her neck and shoulders. When she came outside, everyone looked at her curiously and she quickly looked at Hanji and Levi and said, “Please… you guys can’t go. This is… is a terrible idea. I just know it. Even Djovvaak is saying to stay here.”   
Levi’s face remained a blank slate and Hanji said, “But honey, this woman says that she can answer all of our questions. We have to take that risk.”  
“It’s not a risk if you know that they’re going to die!” Leah shouted at her. “You’re saying that it’s worth sacrificing whoever is here that is going to die? My preminitions have never caused me to throw up like this before. I don’t know what that means. Let’s wait, at least. If it passes then – “  
“We can’t wait. We don’t have time.” Levi told her shortly. “Get dressed and get your horse.”  
Leah’s eyes trembled in her sockets and she looked quickly over at Tsuki and the others. Finally her eyes landed on Meria. When they did, she became aware of something she hadn’t before. The woman was wearing an aura of darkness around her. Her body was dressed in a black cloak that made her seem much more threatening and dangerous than before. “What aren’t you telling us? This is a trap… isn’t it? You’re trying to kill one of us… if not all of us… aren’t you?”  
Meria shifted her reins and sighed. “There’s none of you that need to die. Though, there is someone that needs to die. But that is for another time. I am no danger to any of you.”  
“Then why are you trying to take us somewhere we’ll be killed!? Why are you being so persistant?” Leah felt tears in her eyes.  
“If you’re screaming so loud, I can assume your stomach is better?” Levi asked suddenly and sharply. “Stay behind if you like, but the rest of us will go.”  
Leah stared at him in shock and then looked down, “I don’t – “  
“No. You must go.” Meria stated, leaning off and climbing off her horse. “All of the Slayers need to come with me.” The woman walked up to Leah who took a step back out of instinct. Surprising all of them, the woman dropped down to one knee and dipped her head to the Slayer before her. Her words were gentle as she cooed, “I believe I’ve somehow lost you trust. I understand that you fear death. I do as well. I know that your stomach hurts right now. But I insist that it’s not because anyone is going to die.”  
Leah gasped and asked, “Do you know… what it is?”  
She lifted her head up a bit and answered, “Your body is anxious in response to a memory you have forgotten. Something very terrible happened there.”  
“Is that why you’re making me go back?” Leah asked, fear now causing her stomach to hurt again.  
“No, that’s not why. But that could have a factor in what will happen after this.” Meria mussed her hair and stood up. “Now I ask that you will please join us. I will not force you against your will. But I need you to do this for me, please.”  
Reluctantly, Leah returned to put her uniform on and was assisted by Armin who had readied her horse and then they were off.

Demi trotted along towards the center, staying close to Eren but the entire time, her eyes were on Meria. When she had gotten that first memory, of her talking to all of them, she had been filled with happiness and longing. Now, when she looked at the woman, she sensed something entirely different. She gasped when she suddenly felt a hand on her head and her bangs spilled across her face. A determined looking Eren told her, “Enough with that face. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry so much.”  
Demi blushed softly and reached up, taking his hand and lacing her fingers with his as she said, “Eren… stay close to me at all times, okay? Just to be safe.”  
He chuckled and told her, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”  
Tsuki was looking around at the trees, seeing that they were beginning to change colors. They were really starting to look beautiful. On top of that, so far everything had been peaceful. There hadn’t been any titans sightings, so for the most part, they were safe. As she was looking around, she became aware of Jean looking at her. With a smile she asked, “Is something on your mind?”  
“I was wondering if you’re really okay with going to this place? You mentioned that you had been here before. But then she told Leah that something terrible happened in the place we’re going to.” His brows arched when Amaak hopped up on her shoulder and shook his head.   
His fur fluffed out and he said, “There was an accident here involving many of them, but there shouldn’t be anything dangerous about us returning there. I think I know why she wants us to go. Especially since she said that she wanted to give all of the Slayers presents.”  
“Mind filling in the clueless here, then?” Jean asked, walking his horse closer to Tsuki. “I trust you, at this point. So if you think it’s safe then I’m fine. But I’d feel better if I knew what we were getting ourselves into.”  
“It’s – “  
Just as Amaak began speaking, as they were trotting along, a massive titan arm shot out, catching the side of Connie’s horse and flipping him onto the ground. Sasha screamed, “Titan!” She veered her horse away as the full monster climbed out of the forest, but it’s other hand came around, catching Krista and lifted her up into the air.  
“Shit!” Jean shouted, starting to jump up into his saddle to reel himself to free Krista when Demi was already flying by overhead. She had latched her gear into the titan’s wrist and slid along the ground until she flipped into the air and the spun, coming down across it’s wrist. It released Krista and Demi caught her as she landed on the ground. She looked up in time to see the titan coming after both of them now, but she didn’t budge. She watched as a white blur flew by and chopped out the neck of the titan. Tsuki looked down at Connie when she was sure the titan was dead. She landed beside of him and asked, “Are you alright?”  
Connie sat up and nodded his head. “Yeah. The gear is okay, too. Thanks guys.”  
“Any time.” Tsuki held her hand out and Amaak shifted back off of her and landed in the palm of her hand. She turned back and looked at Demi who had already set Krista down. But the excited girl was thanking her repetitively. Tsuki smiled softly, looking away only when Jean walked her horse back up to her.  
Meria whistled and giggled, “Wow you guys are good.”  
Demi was trying to pry Krista off of her when she paused at Meria’s words. She looked up at the older woman and her crimson eyes. When she placed her hands on Krista’s shoulders, she suddenly froze. The forest around her shifted and it changed seasons. Before she knew it, she was younger, much younger and she was sitting, curled up with a bunch of other children and they were looking out across a concrete slab that had long, curled spikes coming up on either side, making a type of archway. Demi wasn’t for sure what she was sitting in, but it almost felt like a casket and she was peeking out between the box and the lid. She recognized Meria, but her expression wasn’t what she was used to. It was feral, like a monster about to devour it’s prey. She could only see her profile, but she was covered in blood and looked around frantically.  
Her eyes widened when she recognized Kana’s form of the same age as Demi’s own. A smallish child but her long red hair was almost touching the ground that was covered in snow. She just barely looked up at Meria as the monsterous woman slammed her fist into her chest. She let out a shriek of pain and ripped her heart out. Demi’s body trembled. She literally yanked out the organ, spraying blood across the snow as Kana screamed and cried until going limp. Meria growled so lowly that Demi barely heard it, “I’ll kill you as many times as I have to disgusting waste of space. Until you no longer get back up.”  
When Meria turned back towards the casket that Demi was in, she was licking her lips with the most evil expression on her face. She ordered harshly, “Get back in there and don’t you dare come out.”

When Demi came back to, she was staring up at the sky with a worried Eren, Tsuki, Leah, and Krista hovering over her. Tsuki hurriedly asked, “What happened?”  
“I think I unlocked another memory.” Demi whispered as she slowly sat up. She gripped Eren’s arm and slowly got to her feet, but her emerald eyes found Meria and she didn’t look away. The woman wore such a pleasant smile but now all she could see was that animalistic feral rage as she killed her best friend. When her gaze met with that woman, suddenly she looked unsure and she noticed that her hand went to the right side of her belt. Before Demi could say anything to her, Tsuki touched her shoulder.  
“Was it something important?” Tsuki asked her. The Slayer’s eyes were wide with hopefulness.  
“I think it was… but… I don’t know.” Demi stated, slowly pulling her eyes off of the woman and turned away. She went back to her horse and climbed on. She was just about to click her horse back into a trot when Eren caught her arm. She almost snapped at him but she controlled herself and softly asked, “Yes, Eren?”  
Eren waited, seeing that everyone else was climbing back on their horses and carrying on and Eren asked, “What did you see? I know that look in your eyes, Demi.”  
As quietly as she could, she confessed to him, “I saw that woman… killing Kana… when we were much younger. She looked… sadistic and feral. This woman… whoever she really is… she’s not a friend. She is most certainly an enemy.”  
“Should you tell the captain?” Eren asked.  
“No.” Demi stated sharply. She felt a need, deep in the pit of her stomach, to know what this woman wanted to show them. That this was important. With that in mind, knowing Kana and Levi’s secret relationship, that if she spilled about the woman being after Kana to kill her, he’d kill the woman first in a heartbeat.


	94. Deal

Levi woke up slowly. But his bed wasn’t cold. There was a warmth that comforted him so much, he naturally moved closer to it. His arms wrapped around a soft pillow. Crimson filled his vision, filled his life. When he opened his eyes all the way, he realized that his angelic crimson flower was laying with her back to him.  
His heart stopped. Now that morning was here, how was she really going to feel about what happened last night? Would she be pissed that he took advantage of her? Would she cry? Would she want nothing to do with him? His grip on her tightened. All of the above scenarios had his heart hurting. He needed her. He couldn’t lose her. He’d do anything to get her to forgive him, no matter how selfish it was and how much he didn’t deserve it.  
She shifted and slowly rolled over. Her hair was draped across her face and he could barely see her crimson orb looking up at him. It was partially open, still drunk on sleep. His breath hitched. She was so damn beautiful. He’d thought it a while, but just wouldn’t let himself admit it. Now, he didn’t know why. He needed her. He needed this woman in his life. She made him feel safe, loved, happy…  
But her eyes were unsure. She groggily moaned, “Nnnhhmm… Good morning, Levi.”  
With that one sentence, he felt the weight of the world lift off of his shoulders. She didn’t hate him. His eyes widened when she leaned over and softly kissed his forehead. Was this real? Was this perfect angel really his? A breath escaped him. “Yes. It is.”  
She smiled and rolled on over, resting a hand on his chest. She brushed her nose against his and when he realized she was going in for a kiss on his lips, he eagerly met her halfway. She had started to push him down to lean over him when the door flew open. Levi gasped and quickly pushed her down out of sight and looked over, “Isabel! Knock first!”  
Isabel was laughing and waved a hand. “Oh calm down. I brought you some breakfast. Figured you’d need something to re-energize after a long nights’ workout.”  
Kana was covering her chest and gasped, “W-We didn’t – “  
“Oh you’re not fooling anyone.” Farlan teased from where he was leaning on the door frame. “This is a small place and the two of you were kind of loud.”  
Levi sat up and glared at them, “The two of you could at least be more decent about it.”  
Isabel giggled. “Why? Kana-san is used to us by now!” She jumped on the bed, nuzzling Kana’s bare chest. “I’m so happy for you guys! Kana-san is perfect for brother.”  
Kana was blushing darkly, trying to push Isabel away while Levi scolded, “Don’t do that when she doesn’t have clothes on, stupid!”  
Isabel was nuzzling her head into her chest and giggled. “They’re so soft and squishy, Kana-san!”  
Kana pushed Isabel back and glared at her. “Stop…! It…! Isabel…!” As soon as she pushed her back, she realized she’d stopped covering her chest and she saw that Farlan started blushing. She quickly covered herself back up and shouted, “BOTH OF YOU GET OUT!!!”  
After throwing things at them and slamming the door in their face, Kana let out a huge breath of relief. She backed up to the edge of the bed and dropped down. “Well that was embarrassing.” She looked over her shoulder at Levi.  
His expression was bland until a moment passed and a very small smile came to his lips. He leaned up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind. He pressed his face to her neck and breathed her in. “They’re like that.”  
Kana relaxed in his hold. She had always longed to be this way with him. Her heart raced with the realization that her very dreams were coming true. His hands ran softly along her arms and it send chills down her spine. His touch was so delicate and sensational. She leaned back into him and he eagerly accepted her. His lips lingered on her shoulder and he whispered, “I love you, Kana.”  
She smiled more. He’d said it so many times, like he was trying to convince her of its truth. What he didn’t understand was that she didn’t need convincing. She already knew his feelings and hers were the same. She reached up and ran her hand through his hair. His head tilted into her hand and he relaxed even more. She responded to him, “I love you too, Levi.”

Later that morning, Isabel was happily bouncing in her seat. She kept tossing Kana glances and giggles, answered by getting pushed off the bench each time. But she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips, especially when Levi set a cup of hot tea in front of her and his lips brushed the top of her head. He sat down beside her and looked at Farlan, “So did you find any jobs?”  
“Nothing that I think is of interest.” Farlan stated. “Especially with you injured. There was a small one that Isabel and I might take up for the day. We’ll pick up dinner on our way back, alright?”  
Levi pursed his lips. He clearly didn’t like the idea of them going off alone. But as soon as he started to open his mouth, Farlan raised his hand. “I know you don’t like it, but you and Kana are both injured and you need to take it easy for a while.”  
Levi huffed, but seemed to let it go at this statement. He tapped his tea cup impatiently and grumbled, “Just don’t be late back, or I’ll come hunt after you.”  
Farlan chuckled. “Promise we won’t.” He patted Isabel’s back and she hopped up. But before she took off after Farlan, she looped her arms around Kana’s shoulders and gave her a big hug. Then she waved happily as they left.

Kana finished straightening up hers and Isabel’s room. She tossed the dirty clothes in the hamper in the hallway and then peeked into Levi’s room. He was pulling off the sheets and she pleasantly asked, “Want any help, Levi?”  
“No. You rest.” He ordered without even looking at her. He carried the sheets past her and out of the room. Kana trotted after, much like a puppy, and told him, “I’m fine, but I already cleaned up mine and Isabel’s room.”  
Levi tossed the sheets into the tub of water and then looked back at her. He sighed and handed her the broom that was sitting against the wall. “Sweep then.” When she started to grumble and walk away, he caught her by the waist and pulled her back to him. He went to say something to her, but his gaze went to the bruises down the side of her neck and were visible through the undone buttons of her shirt. His usually hard eyes slipped and she could see sadness stir into the silver. He was still bothered about what he’d done. His voice cracked a bit when he ordered her, “If you insist on helping, then you can sweep. But after that, rest. I’m sure you’re sore.”  
Kana hesitated, but she reached up and touched his face, surprised when he immediately tipped his head into her fingers and closed his eyes. Her heart paused in it’s outrageous pace as she watched this cold hard man melt under her touch. “Yeah, but you’re injured.”  
“So are you.” Levi retorted, that cool look coming back to his eyes. “Now do it or I’ll tie you down.”  
Kana couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips at the thought and his cheeks darkened and he turned away, taking the clean wet clothes out to dry. She had gone to start sweeping the back rooms when she noticed Levi glaring at the door. She stepped out and saw what he was looking at. On the outside of the door, there were two knives embedded in the wood.  
Levi’s eyes narrowed as Kana asked, “What’s that about?”  
“Go back inside.” Levi ordered sharply. “It’s nothing.”  
Kana frowned but did as he said. It certainly didn’t seem like nothing.

That night, after Isabel and Farlan had returned, they were all sitting at the table with their meals, playing a game of cards. Isabel, for the hundredth time, threw her hand at Farlan. “You’re cheating! I see you looking over at my hand!”  
Farlan glared at her. “I am not cheating! If you’re so bent on accusing me of cheating then why don’t you switch spots with Levi. He won’t complain like a coward.”  
Levi sent Farlan a hateful glare. Isabel giggled and shook her head, “No way. Brother wants to sit beside Kana-san.”  
Farlan sighed and rolled his eyes. “This is going to take some getting used to. Fine, fine.”   
They continued through their game for a while longer, but after Kana had yet to win a single round, Isabel teased, “Wow, Kana-san is pretty bad at card games. No wonder you never wanted to play with us.”  
Kana blushed and glared at her. “Sh-Shut up! This is my first time playing.”  
“Really? You’ve never played card games before?” Isabel squealed.  
Kana rubbed the back of her head and grumbled, “Back home, my friends and I didn’t have a lot of spare time…”  
“Not even for card games?” Isabel gasped. “What the hell did you guys do?”  
Kana shrugged her shoulders. “We were just always busy.”  
Isabel puffed her cheeks and stood up and stretched. “Well I’m tired, let’s go to bed, Kana-san.”  
Kana smirked. “I was just thinking the same thing.” She got up, too, as Farlan collected the cards and put them back. Before she could step away from the table, Levi caught his arm around her thighs and lifted her up with one arm. He wordlessly headed down the hall to the bedrooms.  
Isabel squealed and shouted, “No, brother! You can’t take my cuddle buddy!” She ran up and tried pulling Kana away who made a noise.  
Levi glared at her but Isabel made a pouty face. “You had her last night, so she comes back tonight!”  
Kana made a noise, trying to get the little violent red-head’s arm from around her neck. “Ugh, Isabel…”  
Farlan came up behind Isabel and picked her up by the armpits, resulting in her letting Kana go and she screaming and kicking angrily. “Lemme go Farlan! It’s not fair! I found her first.”  
Kana laughed and gave the girl a sympathetic smile. “I promise I’ll still come cuddle with you occasionally.”  
Isabel’s eyes got all big and around and she sniffled, “R-Really?”  
“Pinky promise.” Kana smiled and held her little finger out to her. Anxiously she wrapped her own pinky around Kana’s before smiling and trotting off to her bedroom.   
But before she walked in, Isabel stuck her tongue out at Levi and grumbled, “Big brother is greedy!” And then went on into her room.  
Levi huffed and walked on into his own room and set Kana down on the bed. She couldn’t help noticing just how cautious and gentle he was being. She looked up at him; he seemed… nervous. He turned away and rubbed the back of his head. He mumbled something, but she couldn’t understand what he said. So she asked, “Hm?”  
“I guess I should have asked if you minded.” Levi grumbled, glancing back at her.  
“Mind what?” Kana asked, genuinely confused.  
“Staying in here with me from now on.” Levi’s gaze went to anywhere but her now, as though he was terrified of what her response could be.  
It started as just one little noise that escaped her lips. Then it became a giggle as she thought more and more about it. Levi… her captain… was acting so nervous! It was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. Before she knew it, she was laughing out loud and he was glaring at her as though she’d offended him. Levi sharply demanded, “What the hell is so funny!?”  
When he turned to her, she caught his arm by his sleeve and pulled him to her as she leaned back, so the small but usually sturdy man collapsed on top of her. He held himself over her, his eyes wide. She ran her hand up his arm, shoulder and rested it on his neck, stroking his jaw line with her thumb. The changes in him were so obvious to her. Since first meeting him in this era, she had seen the cracks in his shell every now and then, almost being able to see the man buried inside. But after last night, when it was just them, that shell was gone. All that was left was a normal man, afraid of being hurt. Kana smiled up at him and whispered, “You’re funny. You’re acting ridiculous. If I didn’t want to stay in here with you, I would have said something.”  
He glared at her and then looked away. “Excuse me if I don’t just assume that. You’re not exactly the most honest and open person in the world.”  
A smirk split her lips and she giggled again. “Okay. Let’s make a deal.”  
“Huh?”  
“I promise to be open and honest about everything and you do the same, got it? E-Except… where I came from. I’m just not… comfortable discussing about th-“  
She was surprised to be cut off with a tender kiss. But she immediately closed her eyes and kissed him back. Her hand slid around and her arms wrapped around his body, holding him there for several long moments. When he pulled back, he whispered, “I won’t press. As long as you don’t about mine.”  
“Deal.” Kana smiled at him.  
He pulled away and the two of them stripped out of their clothes for the evening. When he had taken his shirt off, though, her warm lips had traced the wound on his shoulder and it sent a foreign feeling surging through his body. At first he tensed but then relaxed. He was slowly starting to acknowledge and accept that this feeling, this powerful emotion he had been so terrified of… was happiness. And when his heart started to race and skin prickle, only for this tiny girl, he knew that it was love.  
It wasn’t long before she was curled up on her side of the bed. She was wearing just the shirt that he had let her borrow so long ago. The collar was fluffed up, covering almost the rest of her face that wasn’t draped in her long red hair. He had noticed, at one point, that the ends of hair on the right side of her face were much shorter than those on the left. Had she intended to do that? Or was there some kind of accident? He didn’t have the nerve to ask, afraid it would step into the territory of what she didn’t want to discuss.  
He sat up on his side of the bed, watching the crimson angel sleep for the longest time. It still shocked him, to be with anyone in this way. Especially someone who had seen him at his worst. He was familiar with fear when people looked at him. But he hadn’t realized that, until meeting her, he had longed for someone to look at him with something besides fear, admiration, or inadvertences. He had always wanted someone to look at him, to really look at him. He just didn’t know it. He hadn’t known it until she had done just that.  
From the moment her gaze fell upon him, it had been filled with longing, affection, genuine concern. That feeling had taken a hold of him from the get go, but since he had never known was it was, he had shied away from it, untrusting of it. But despite his rejection, his resilience, she still forced her way into his soul and took a hold of him. He admired her for being so strong – for not only herself, but him as well.  
He leaned down, brushing the crimson thread away from her face and softly touched his lips to the fine silk that was her cheek. These feelings were so strong and all consuming. There was still a fear there, deep inside of him, but it wasn’t the usual kind of fear that he had felt. But even stronger than the fear, he felt attachment, possession, protectiveness. He could not lose this woman. He needed her. He needed her with everything he was.  
He pressed his forehead to her shoulder and closed his eyes while his arm wrapped around her waist. Within moments, security washed over him and lulled him into the deepest sleep he’d ever known.


	95. Fact versus Fiction

The sun had been set for a while now. The sky was a deep purple almost blue black color now. Most everyone except for Jean and Sasha, who were making the rounds patrolling, were sititng and enjoy a brief meal. Demi had started to reach over and steal Eren’s bread when Krista – or Historia – dropped down next to her. With a big smile on her face she said, “Here, have mine.”  
Demi waived her hand and said, “No no, it’s fine. I was just going to pick on Eren.”  
“I’m not going to eat it anyway. I insist. You saved my life earlier.” Historia told her with happiness sparkling in her eyes. She looked more alive than she had in a long time. Demi realized with a vague uncertainty that all of them had been struggling to smile recently. Even before Kana resigned, before the wall came tumbling down, it had been like this since she joined the group. Every now and then Tsuki would try to cheer them up, but they were nothing like the stories they told. Demi’s gaze scanned over Historia and with a sigh, she realized the girl was probably trying to replace someone she was missing in her life with her.  
Demi took the bread and asked her, “You not like bread?”  
Historia giggled and said, “I had plenty of it on the farm where I grew up.”  
“You lived on a farm?” Tsuki asked from the other side of the circle.  
Historia nodded and carried on, “It was in the northern part of wall Sina. I helped around the ranch from the time I was old enough to understand what was going on around me. My mother was always reading books. I never saw her do any housework. She was really cute. When night fell, she would go to the city dressed up in showy clothes and carried by someone who welcomed her with a cart. It was for my mother’s work, to earn a different income. That was my usual life. Still, when I learned how to read and write, I started reading books just like my mother did. I knew what loneliness was.  
No matter the book she read it was written that parents showed admiration to their children. It was written that they talk to them, embrace them, or even scold them. I had no experience of such things. While I was taught my grandparent’s line of work, I didn’t really hold any conversations with my mother. Also, the other kids could walk freely around the neighborhood. I realized I also didn’t know what it was like to play with children of the same age. To me kids became dangerous living beings a they always threw rocks at me. Needless to say, I didn’t go out of the ranch. One day, as I was curious, I went to my mother to see what being hugged was like. From the face she was making, it seemed her book was interesting… The result was only that I was thrown away, but this was the first time my mother had done something for me, so that made me happy.  
Then she said, ‘If only I had the courage to kill her..’. These became the first words my mother ever said to me. Afterwards, my mother started spending time in other places when going out of the house. At last, I too, finally understood. To my grandfather and my grandmother, to the people that worked at the ranch, to the people that lived int his land, to all the people there, the fact that I was alive didn’t make them cheerful in the least. What had I done? Why had it turned out like this? I had no one to ask. This land was the only thing in my world. Only the animals were my friends. Most of my days were spent working at the ranch but there were times when I forgot my loneliness, too.  
But then, a few nights after Wall Maria fell was when I first met my father. He introduced himself with the name of the feudal lord governing this land. It had been years since I had last seen my mother and she seemed to be really scared. After telling me that I would live with him from now on, my father brought me to the cart outside. But that time, when my mother screamed, only then did I realize we were surrounded by a lot of adults. I was so confused. The men grabbed my mother and suddenly my father started denying our relationship. The man who grabbed my mother forced her to the ground and then… right in front of me… He cut her throat and her final words to me were ‘if only you hadn’t been born’.  
They were going to kill me as well, but my father quickly stepped in. He made an offer that if I lived in secret far away, then I could keep my life. He told me that my name would be Krista Lenz. Then I spent 2 years in a reclaimed land and entered the trainee corps when I turned 12.”  
Demi looked down, a frown on her lips. She had to admit that she really did sympathize with the girl. Though she didn’t have any distinct memories to go off of, she could feel in the pit of her stomach that her family wanted nothing to do with her. It felt like a scorch mark inside of her chest that she couldn't see but could always feel. If her family cared anything about her, then she wouldn't be here. None of them would be. When her green eyes turned up on the others, she could see that they felt the same way. Tsuki, Leah, and probably Kana too. Those who didn't know if their parents were killed most likely assumed the worst - that they were abandoned.  
Meria lowered her bread. "That sounds hard." She confessed. But her crimson gaze was glazed over in the flickering light. "It's... hard to understand the motivations of others without knowing their histories."  
Demi challenged, "And yet... you can't tell us anything?"  
"I can't." Meria confirmed. "I'm lucky enough just to be here."  
Hanji glanced at Mizuki who was curled up in Levi's lap, sleeping soundly. Focusing back on the new woman, she added, "Before you, Mizuki is the closest we'd seen to a weapon resembling human form. But even then she's... a small child. You seem much more human-like. Is that normal?"  
"No. It's not." Meria told her. "You're deductive. A researcher I presume?"  
Hanji nodded her head.  
"I can answer your questions but... we need to be at our destination for me to do so. So please... wait until tomorrow."  
Hanji nodded. "So be it."

The next day, they finally reached their destination.  
To be honest, it was less impressive than Tsuki expected. For some reason, she had thought it would be some grand location, but instead, it was mediocre. It was a large stone slab about 50 yards in every direction. There were several stone arches curving into the sky in a row, but they were broken and sharp in the middle, like curved spider fangs. In the middle of it was some long narrow cavern that descended into darkness.  
Meria swung off her horse and dropped down onto the stone. She walked across this bizarre structure before stopping under the first of the archways. She looked back at them, her crimson eyes distant. "Now that we're here, I can begin to explain and you can ask your questions. I will answer what I can." She sighed and her shoulders visibly slumped. "Weapons are not born like humans. They're born here. This place is a collection of powerful energy. It's... a bizarre unexplainable phenomena. If someone knows what exactly it is, I wasn't privy to that knowledge. I can only tell you what I, myself, know. But all weapons were born here. This archway collects energies and certain energies produce beings of different makes, compositions, and states of being. Leah. You have a weapon that is a collection of pure energy. In small amounts it can create physical objects, but most of it's power is purely energy."  
Leah nodded her head. "Yes. That's right. How did you know about my weapon?"  
Meria didn't answer. She listened as all of them climbed off their horses but continued to listen to her words. She carried on, "Tsuki...your weapon is an animal spirit. It found attachment in the creatures it had seen and attempted to replicate one of them, taking on that form. The same with Demi's weapon."  
Hanji narrowed her eyes. "And... you and Mizuki?"  
Meria's gaze darkened and she confessed, "I am the embodiment of human emotion. Maybe that's why I was given this form. Maybe that's the reason for everything."  
Levi was beginning to lose his patience. "We didn't come here for more cryptic nonsense. We came for answers. You said this would - "  
"Patience." Meria hissed, looking slowly over her shoulder. She reached out and touched the archway beside her that had a blood splatter on it.  
Demi's eyes widened. She suddenly recognized this place as the one in her vision. This was where she had watched this woman kill Kana! Why here? What did this place represent, really?  
Meria shuddered, "Humans found this place a long time ago. The tales that humans heard... isn't that different than what we have been told is the history of the Slayers. The truth of what we are rather than the fiction."  
Levi's eyes narrowed. He remembered hearing the tall-tale story that Kana had told him when she had 'died' the first time. But he was curious about the real truth. The answers this woman seemed to have that all the Slayers here did not.  
Meria carried on, "When they found this place... and saw the... things that come from it... they immediately wanted to harness it. They... experimented on humans... fusing them with this power. Trial after trial, they threw away their own lives to try and consume this power. The first weapon ever created... approached them. He confronted them and made a deal... he blessed them with the knowledge to create beings that could harness the power of the weapons. In turn, the Slayers were born. Genetically modified humans. They reproduced over the years and were gathered up like cattle, forced to live in a village, waiting to be called on and used as weapons to defend humanity when needed."  
Jean accidentally shouted, "Then where were you when the titans showed up!?"  
Tsuki touched Jean's hand. She could feel even from where she was, the desparity of his words. She could feel it from all of them. He was the only one to vocalize it but all of them wanted to know why they didn't act if they were supposed to be humanities weapons to be used.  
Meria shook her head. "I don't know. You're getting answers from me that you know nothing of so I can understand where you would assume that I magically know everything. But... I'm just a member of a village and I'm told by a king what I can and cannot say. I don't know why we weren't allowed to take action. For majority of my life... I didn't even know what was happening outside of our village. If I had...If I'd had any idea what they would..." Meria looked up, her eyes suddenly consumed with pain and longing. "I'm just a pawn they push around, too. We all are." She shook her head. "But those aren't the questions to ask right now. There's a lot more to a Slayer and Weapon combination that what you've come to understand. Slayers can only use one weapon in their lifetime. Because when they join that energy, it's a permanent link. The boundaries between the Slayer and Weapon become indistinguishable and that's why they can borrow lifelines. Weapons have so much power at their disposal that they can spare it to refuel the life force of a being they're connected to. On that note... there's... different levels of connection. That's... the real reason we're here."  
Tsuki's brows arched. "Levels of connection?"  
Meria turned fully to them. "If you want to truly utilize your powers and bring Kana back, you need to more fully connect with your weapons. That's why I've brought you here, to their place of birth. All of you... from what I've seen... are only running on 5% connection."


	96. Worth Your Tea

Time was starting to fly by. More than a month went by without any major issues. The days were becoming easier and easier and more fun. Kana’s wound wasn’t bothering her much anymore and Levi’s shoulder injury was healing nicely. As time went on, she was thinking less and less about getting home. She’d long since accepted that it was impossible to get back to her time. Not only would Tsuki have to figure out what time she was sent to, but she’d have to have the energy to turn back time, find her, and then get them both back. That was a massive amount of energy that was needed. Besides. Things weren’t too bad. Yes, the underground was terrible. It stunk and it was unbelievably dangerous. It seemed like every where they went they’d have to watch over their shoulders, anticipating an attack. But with the four of them together, it made it worth it. Farlan was constantly scolding them for doing reckless things, Isabel was the opposite and was always cheering them to do the things they shouldn’t. And Levi… he was so protective of all of them. He got a little hot headed sometimes, getting them into messes, but the amount of concern and worry he had for them was unmistakable. Yes, things were going well. She was starting to think that if she didn’t make it back to her time…  
…things would be okay.  
Kana jumped to the side as his fist came flying at her. She could feel the wind from his hand sting her cheek as she turned on her heel. She caught his forearm and swung her own fist. It hit him right in the ribcage and he made a noise, but it didn’t seem to phase him at all. He continued, pulling his arm back and setting her off balance as he swung his leg around. It hit the back of her leg and flipped her over onto her back. She let out a noise as the breath left her.  
He was so damn fast…!  
And it surprised her how strong he was. She saw his elbow coming down towards her and she flipped over quickly, summersaulting over her head and back up to her feet. She was still getting herself oriented when his foot came flying at her again. She caught his ankle and glared up at him. His glare matched her own. He bent his knee, yanking her towards him. She used the momentum, while twisting herself around, to knee him right in the chin.  
He made a noise, releasing her and they both backed up a step. But the second they did, as soon as they had any distance between them, they both threw a fist right at each other hitting the other square in the cheek and knocking them both back. Kana winced as she shifted, stumbling once, twice, three times.  
Shit.  
He’d reoriented himself after only two steps and was already back at her. She stabilized herself as he came back at her and was just barely able to get her arms up in time to stop a full-force attack. But he had wound between her arms, grabbing her shirt.  
She’d lost this one.  
He lifted her up – feet off the ground and pushed her down. Once her back hit the pavement, he grabbed her arms, knee on her chest and pinned her underneath him. If this had been a real fight, then the initial hit wound have been the end of her life. Either she’d lost her touch or…  
He stood up off of her and reached his hand down to her. “You okay?”  
She grabbed a hold of Levi’s hand and pulled herself up. “Yeah. I’m fine.”  
Isabel was giggling where she sat on one of the storage barrels. “Aaaannnnddd Big Brother wins again!”  
…she’d severely underestimated him.  
Kana rubbed the back of her head from where she landed on the ground. Isabel was munching on a bread roll and teased, “Wow, Kana-san. I thought you might have been able to at least be a match for brother, but I think you kind of suck.”  
Kana glared at the girl and hissed, “Hey, don’t be mean!”  
Isabel laughed. Levi commented, “For having such a bad injury on your stomach, you still fight surprising well. I’d be interested to see how well you fight without it, but…”  
Kana sighed. That was the biggest downfall of living in this era. Her inability to heal in even the slightest way. She waved her hand and asked, “So Isabel, Farlan, you guys have been doing a lot of nothing today… We had a job yesterday so shouldn’t someone be cooking?”  
Isabel stuck her tongue out at Kana, resulting in the red heads jumping into their own wrestling match at the base of the storage barrels. Farlan shook his head and, while Levi stepped over the girls, stated, “We have some cash, but we need to get some food. You two are the chefs, why don’t you guys run in and get some food?”  
Levi grumbled. He hated actually shopping. He glared over his shoulder when Isabel rolled into him as Kana tried pushing her up, but the smaller girl was biting her hair, and trying to hit her, but Kana pushed her arms up and away from her face. A smirk slipped on his face. The two of them were just like sisters. He kicked them back away from his feet so Kana rolled on top of Isabel and pinned her arms down with her knees. Isabel whined and started kicking when she realized she couldn’t get away.  
Farlan groaned at them, “Come on guys, stop messing around.” He watched Levi start to head back inside when Farlan asked, “Oh hey, if you don’t want to shopping for food, why don’t we go the bar in the upper district? We haven’t had enough cash to go there for a while.”  
Levi paused, thinking it over before shrugging. “Why not?”  
Isabel shot up. “Yes!” Kana gasped and flopped onto her back as the smaller girl shot up. “I can’t wait!” She ran right past Levi and on inside.  
Kana shook her head and smiled. She was so entertaining.

There was a huge difference between the districts of the underground. There were the directional districts that were all a part of the middle district, and then the upper and lower districts. Farlan had explained all of this to her one evening a while back when the three of them had done more and more chatting about the lower district. The upper district was a high-priced area where most of the better markets were. There were even a few cafes and bars in this area for recreational usage. The middle district is where most of the marketing sectors were. Even people of the upper district would shop in this area so they could afford the convenience of affording the upper district. But the lower district was the slums of the underground. That’s where Kana had first landed when she was transported. It was mostly homeless and sick people who couldn’t even afford rent or have anyway of getting a place of their own. They collected and harbored in the abandoned buildings and going down there was asking for a knife in the back. Anyone that looked wealthy would be killed and then pillaged.  
There was a few groups of thugs that lived in the lower district. In a way, she could understand their methodologies. They could live completely rent-free in an abandoned building, but they would make their way to the middle and upper districts to pick someone to slaughter and loot to afford their livings. In a way, it was similar to how they were doing things now, except they were murdering innocent people senselessly. Hired mercenaries wasn’t much different, except they used judgment and refused tasks that seemed to be too inhumane.  
After learning all of this, it made a lot more sense to her what happened to Isabel. The thugs down there were on the top of everyone’s hit list. They had apparently been approached several times with good offers to wipe out the crew in the lower district, but Farlan had immediately turned every one of them down. It was too dangerous, Farlan had said each time. The pay was good but it wasn’t worth their lives.  
Kana couldn’t help but agree. The most important thing was surviving. No matter what.  
The second they stepped foot into the upper district, it was obvious. Kana’s eyes widened when she saw an immediate shift in the amount of people – and the way they were dressed. By no means were they noble-looking or anything like that, but they were much cleaner looking. Little things like less dirty clothing, less wrinkles, more complete sets of shoes – shops looked nicer and more expensive. But the most obvious thing was that she could tell they knew they weren’t from the upper district.   
Narrowed eyes turned on all of them, judging them. But at the same time, the gazes looked terrified. Their crew had picked up jobs in all of the districts and their names and faces – silently – were recognized. Kana shifted uneasily, but she felt a hand slide into hers. Glancing over, she saw Levi’s gaze was hard and focused. He stared straight ahead, not meeting the looks of any of those passing by. Under his breath, he ordered, “Just ignore them. They won’t do anything.”  
Isabel was casual on her other side though and like usual her arms were up behind her head as she giggled. “They’re too chicken to think of saying or doing anything. And even if they did, brother would shut them up right away.”  
Farlan scolded Isabel and said, “Let’s just try not make a scene this time, guys. I know we have a reputation, but lets keep it under the radar.”  
“You’re no fun, Farlan.” Isabel giggled.  
When they got to the bar that they’d been talking about, Farlan opened the door for the rest of them. The place was already in an uproar. Her crimson eyes shifted to the far side of the bar where a group of guys were laughing and chatting about, another group, closer to the front, were all circled around a couple arm wrestling. There was a few drunk guys at the bar, and then there was a booth in the front corner. The people who’d been sitting there were getting up to leave.  
Farlan dropped down and let out a sigh of relief. “I can already smell the food. I love their cooking.”  
Levi helped Kana into the booth next and he sat down beside her, with Isabel on the outside edge. Isabel glared at Levi and pouted, “No far! I don’t even get to sit next to her?”  
Kana giggled a bit at Isabel’s glare, and then more at Levi’s glare back. Farlan rubbed his face and asked, “Isabel, do you want to switch with me?”  
“No way! Brother is just being mean! He keeps hogging Kana-san.” Isabel puffed her cheeks but she quieted as soon as the woman came over to ask what they wanted.  
Even after ordering their food, Isabel was glaring at Levi, but he smirked just the slightest bit, leaning back and draping his arm cross the seat behind Kana and crossing his legs under the table. Isabel looked to Kana and asked, “Can we go do something tomorrow, Kana-san? Please? This isn’t fair.”  
Farlan chuckled, eagerly opening his drink when it came and pointing the bottle at Isabel. “Isabel, quit whining. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not like Levi’s forcing her to do anything. I think Kana prefers hanging out with him over you.”  
Isabel gasped like the news had been an epic shock to her. “That’s not true! I found her first!” She turned to Kana and shouted, “Tell him that’s a lie! I’m your favorite, right Kana-san!?”  
Kana couldn’t help the laughter, even though she tried so desperately to hold it back. “Erm… you’re my favorite… girl…”  
Isabel grumbled and glared at her. “That’s not very convincing…”  
Shortly after, their food came and Isabel forgot all about the argument and started to viciously attack her food. As the woman sat down Kana’s food in front of her, she commented, “You guys have never brought an extra along. Who is this lovely young lady?”  
Levi’s eyebrow twitched and he snapped, “Why are you asking?”  
The lady looked taken aback. “I just…”  
Farlan waved his hand in front of Levi’s face, laughing casually. “Don’t mind him. He’s just in a bad mood. Her name is Kana, she started helping us here a while back and she’s become part of the crew now.”  
Kana’s cheeks flushed at the words. She’d kind of felt it for a while now, but it was the first time anyone actually said that she was a member of their crew. The woman giggled as she set the rest of the food down and said, “Well she’s just too cute, like little Isabel here. Better keep her away from the boys.”  
Levi glared at the woman walked off. Farlan scolded him, “Don’t be so hateful Levi! She was just trying to initiate small talk.”  
“People ask questions for a reason.” Levi retorted, but his gaze went to the mess Isabel was making with her food. He scoffed, “Will you try not to get it all over the entire table?” Isabel glared up at him and stuck her tongue out.  
He glared back.  
Kana casually ate, but she noticed the same massive guy across the bar had taken down yet another person in an arm wrestling match. Not to mention the guy was fucking huge. Each time he stood up, Kana thought his head would go right through the ceiling. And his girth was probably wider than the barrel they were wrestling on. After taking down that guy, he stood and shouted, “Whoo! Another win for the shop keeper! I’m undefeated! Come on, can’t any of you challenge me? And you guys call yourselves thugs from the underground?”  
A couple of the guys that had been beaten pointed to their table and laughed, “Why don’t you take on one of those scrawny little losers? I bet you he could throw the short one across the room with one hand.”  
Kana grumbled and her eye twitched. She knew, from experience, the last thing anyone should do was underestimate Levi. But he just casually ate, ignoring the guys who were clearly speaking loud enough to be heard. She supposed certain things didn’t bug him as much as others. If he was going to ignore it, then she would, too.  
The shopkeeper looked over at them. “Hey yeah, you guys are always here but have never once taken up the challenge. Why don’t you try a round, just for fun? I’ll go easy on you, short-stuff.”  
Levi glanced at him, but still didn’t say anything. The shopkeeper huffed and waved his arms out. “Here, I’ll even throw in a little something extra. If you can beat me, your meals will be on the house and you can take anything you want.” He laughed and added, “Even my ol’ lady if you want.”  
The woman, who brought them their food, snapped at him angrily.  
Kana rolled her eyes, but there was another comment that caught her attention. The guys that had been mocking Levi and Farlan a few minutes ago, teased, “I’ll tell you what I want, a piece of that sexy redhead between them.”  
“You know what they say, right? Those redheads are wild in bed.”   
They both started laughing.  
Kana blushed darkly out of embarrassment and she felt Levi tense up beside her. But the guys didn’t stop. They called, “Hey sweetheart. Wouldn’t you rather hang out with some real men? We’ll show you a much better time than those scrawny chicken boys.”  
Levi gritted his teeth and Kana could almost feel the physical snapping of Levi’s rage. He stood up suddenly and hopped over the table. He rolled his sleeves up and, even though he was talking to shop keeper, his glare was the two men in the back corner who had been talking filthy. “Alright, I’ll do a round.”  
Isabel raised her fork. “Yeah, go bro! You shut those pigs up!”  
The two of them lined up at the barrel. It was fairly intimidating. The shop keeper was probably twice Levi’s height and the size of his biceps put Levi’s tiny frame to shame. Kana munched at her chips, watching intensely. She knew Levi was strong, but could he actually outmatch someone like that in pure strength?  
The shopkeeper smirked and crossed his arms, “So your name is Levi right? I’ve been waiting a damn long time to go up against you. Your skills are infamous, but is your strength enough to beat me?”  
Isabel was jumping up and down and cheering, “Yeah big bro! Kick his ass!”  
Farlan glared at the other guys who weren’t even paying attention to the arm wrestling match. They were looking over at their table and pointing at Isabel and Kana. He narrowed his eyes and got a sunken feeling in his stomach. This day was probably not going to end without a fight.  
A guy rested his hand on top of Levi and the shopkeeper’s. After a brief countdown, he let them go.  
The very second the countdown finished and the guy released their hand, the shopkeeper let out a deafening noise as his hand was slammed into the barrel at full force, a crack echoing through the shop. Levi let his hand go and the shopkeeper retracted it, gripping his wrist and letting out a sad whimpering noise at the pain in his arm.   
Levi stood back and glared at the guys in the corner who looked shocked. He growled, “If the two of you say anymore, I’ll do to your spines what I did to his arm.”  
The first guy shot up and stuttered. “Y-You little punk! Who the hell do you think you are?”  
His glare darkened. “Do you wanna find out?”  
Isabel whistled when the two guys clamped their jaws. “Yeah, that shut those bastards up! Teach them to mess with us!”  
Levi turned around and headed for the stock shelf where the lady had been standing. “Now for my prize…” He reached past her, plucking the black tea leaves off the shelf. Kana giggled. She should have known that’s what he was going for. But her gaze snapped back to the two guys who were now pulling out knives. Farlan stood up quickly, to warn Levi, but Kana was past him in a second.   
She darted to the first guy, ramming her elbow into his gut and the knife fell freely from his hand. He gagged on his words, “What… the hell…?”  
The second guy turned to her, his knife raised to stab her, but she swung around too quickly and landed her first right against his nose. She smirked when she heard the crack under her knuckles and he tumbled across the floor. Levi looked back at them, his eyes narrowed, as though daring them to stand back up.  
They did, but on their way out the door.  
The shopkeeper stared out the door and commented, “Wow, you guys actually got those guys to leave. They come in here all the time and harass my customers.”  
Isabel was giggling while waving her hands. “That’s because Big Bro and Kana-san are amazing.”  
“I’ll say.” The shopkeeper chuckled and rubbed his inner arm. “You guys come back anytime you want. I’ll stick to my promise, all of you can have your meals on the house tonight.”  
Isabel started jumping up and down while cheering excitedly. “Thanks so much!”


	97. Looking Bright

Tsuki looked at the woman in complete confusion. “5% connection…?”  
Meria nodded her head. “The emotions, the goals, the drive, everything has to be perfectly in sync between a Slayer and their Weapon. It’s the difference between mixing like sugar and water or oil and water. All of you are just oil and water, sloshing around, hoping to achieve something.”  
Meria looked at the green Slayer. “Demi, you’re doing particularly bad. It appears that Sarthis doesn’t seem to be yielding to your commands at all anymore. His goals are different than yours.”  
Demi gritted her teeth. She couldn’t stop seeing the woman drenched in blood – that evil smile on her face. She turned away.  
Meria frowned but continued. “At this place, where energy gathers, your weapons will all be stronger. They’ll have more energy and it will be easier for you to all understand each other.”  
Leah shyly held up her hand. “I don’t think talking to each other is the issue. We’re all talking fine.”  
“Then you know exactly what Djovaak wants most in this world?” Meria challenged.  
Leah blinked and then looked up. “I guess I hadn’t asked.”  
Meria sighed and walked over to the edge of the slab and sat down. “You should all spend some time working with your weapons for a bit. Talk to them, learn about them, then we’ll continue.”

Tsuki had been surprised when Amaak so easily jumped out of her skin and laid down in his larger fox form. He let out a yawn and shook his body, sparkles of energy rattling off of him as he laid his head down. She was now laying against his furry body and looked over at his head as she said, “I don’t really get what was so dangerous about this place. The way she described it, it seemed like we were going to some treacherous dungeon or something.”  
Amaak shook his head. _This place can be quite dangerous in the right situations._  
“Do we risk that situation arising?” Tsuki asked.  
He shook his head again.  
A few minutes later, Jean walked over to Tsuki with one of the canteens and handed it to her. He sat down next to her and asked, “Hey, how is the talk going? Learning anything?”  
Tsuki smiled at him. “Not really. I don’t really understand this exercise…Amaak and I talk all the time.”  
Jean frowned and watched the Slayer as she stroked the fur of her weapon. His brows pinched together the slightest bit. “Maybe…there’s more to what she means than just… casual talking. She… was mentioning things like goals and motivation a lot. Maybe you should talk about that.”  
“My goals?” Tsuki repeated. She looked down and her eyes grew distant. “I guess that’s hard for me to say. Three years ago… it was so obvious to me. I wanted to kill all the titans and return home. But now…”  
Amaak turned his head to her as her hand stopped on his fur. He let out a low growl of confusion. She confessed, “I don’t know what I want anymore.”  
Jean held his hand out. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You… still wanna kill all the titans right?”  
Her blue eyes glazed over. “Not… all of them.”  
It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks and he understood her hesitation. “Reiner.”  
Tsuki crossed her arms over her chest and pressed her forehead down to her knees. “I’m so sorry. Even after everything so horrible that he did…I still think about it. How he was our friend… how many memories we shared together. Every single day it hurts knowing that he betrayed us, but… even if it came down to it…if I had to kill him…I don’t know if I could.”  
Jean let out a sigh of relief. He reached out and put his hand on her head. “Of course not. That’s what makes you, you. Tsukiko…you’re the most compassionate and loving person I’ve ever met. I know for a fact you, of all people, would never want to harm anyone… no matter how much damage they had done to you.” He brushed her hair back and whispered, “Don’t be ashamed of that, Tsuki. Your caring is one of the things I love most about you…”  
Tsuki felt her eyes trembling in their sockets. “But… what if I hesitate… and he kills someone else?”  
Jean narrowed his eyes. “Then you’re not responsible, he is.”  
Amaak turned his head more, lowering on their feet. _Humans have this bizarre desire to find blame for random acts of fate. I’ve always found that strange. I couldn’t understand during that battle with the armored titan why you continued to find fault in yourself where you’d succeeded. Being the trigger of an event and being at fault for something are not one in the same. Only when you select a certain outcome and force events to that end do you become the person at fault. Reiners actions were not your fault. His betrayal was not your fault. Sending Kana back in time was not your fault. None of this is._  
Tsuki stared at Amaak for several more minutes before her eyes started watering and then she started to sob. Jean wrapped his arms around her and held her so she could cry into him.

Some time later, Meria walked over to Tsuki, Jean, and Amaak and knelt down. “Hey sweetheart. How are you doing?”  
Tsuki rubbed her eyes and nodded up to her. “I’m… okay. I think I understand what you were saying. I can’t…expect Amaak to understand all of my feelings and understand what I want if I don’t tell him. Especially when my feelings are all mixed up like this.”  
Meria nodded. To Amaak, she asked, “Want to test things out?”  
Amaak dipped his head.

Everyone else was standing just outside the slab now. Meria had given Tsuki directions to follow, to utilize the areas energy and so now the rest of them were standing back out of harms way. Hanji was dancing in place. “I can’t wait to see what she can do!”  
Levi had his arms crossed. “What exactly _is_ she going to do?”  
Meria looked around as a fog began to roll in, collecting around the slab. To normal humans, it probably looked like just plain old, condensation, but she knew better. This fog was a collection of energy that was slowly seeping across the ground in response to the Slayers being here. She twisted a finger around her braid and explained, “She’s going to test expending her power in a controlled manner. Amaak will be supercharged here, so she won’t run of power, giving her unlimited freedom to learn to control it.”  
Jean questioned, “Amaak will have unlimited power, but what about Tsuki?”  
Meria nodded. “She will still have her own limitations.”  
Tsuki took a deep breath and turned her head to Amaak. “Ready?”  
He nodded and turned into the scepter that Tsuki had created before with Meria’s guidance. She held it out now with both hands, pointed right at the archway. White light began collecting to it and then suddenly there was a massive surge of energy that burst forth in front of her. It was a huge pillar of light that went straight up into the sky. As it grew larger, the color shifted from bright white light to multiple colors swirling together and expanding around them. Each of the different colors would drift out from the central pillar like a cosmic wave. Tsuki’s hair was lifted off her shoulders and in the light almost seemed to be glowing.  
 _Great job, Tsukiko. This is a very steady flow of power. Now we just need to learn to control it._  
Jean stared in awe at the light in front of all of them. Even in the evening, it was as though the sun had risen right in front of all of them, glowing powerfully and lighting the entire area up with it’s light. He had to put his hand over his eyes to keep looking, but he just couldn’t turn away. This time there wasn’t any massive lightning or too powerful wind that knocked them all around. Now it was a safe amount of wind just kicking up, lifting their hair and clothes.  
Hanji squealed. “This is such an improvement.”  
Levi’s arms were crossed tightly as he looked at the pillar of light. “Not bad.”


	98. The Perfect Pot

Kana and Farlan stared intensely at Levi who glared in return. He looked down at his cup of tea before looking back at them and grumbling, “What?”  
Farlan leaned over and whispered, “Just drink it…”  
“What’d you two do to it?” Levi demanded.  
Kana was grinding her teeth together behind her lips. She felt her pulse quickening. She felt like the suspense could run a knife through her chest. All he had to do was take one drink.   
Levi glanced between the two of them suspicion still in his eyes before slowly lifting the tea cup to his lips and taking a sip. After a moment, his eyebrow twitched. “What the hell did you two do to it? It tastes like it was burnt and not properly prepared.”  
Kana slammed her head down on the table and Farlan groaned. “You screwed up another batch, Kana.”  
Levi glared at her. “All of these bad batches of tea have been your doing?”  
Kana shifted and looked away, her cheeks a dark red. “Y-Yeah, s-sorry.”  
Levi rolled his eyes and dumped the cup in the sink. He went for the box of tea leaves, stopping when he saw that it was empty. He growled. “You wasted all of them?”  
Kana put her hands up in a praying posture. “I’m so sorry! I’m really bad at it! I’ll go get you more!”  
He glared at her over his shoulder, “Those were the expensive ones, too.”  
“I’m so sorry!” Kana squealed but Farlan laughed and patted her back.  
He told her, “No worries, Kana-chan. We’ll run to the store and get some more.”  
Isabel trotted out of her room and asked, “What’s all the noise out here?”  
“Wasted…tea….” Levi growled, glaring at the pot of tea over the fire.  
Kana pouted while Farlan asked Isabel, “We’re going out to buy more, wanna come?”  
“No way. I think I’m finally getting this reading thing down.” Isabel stated. “I’m halfway through this book and I think I understand most of it. Will you reread it to me tonight, Kana-san?”  
Kana smile softly and nodded her head. “Of course I will.” It was amazing. The late evenings she had been trying to teach Isabel how to read while she had read her tattered books to her. The girl was a surprisingly quick learner. It had only been a few months, but it still shocked her just how fast she was getting it. If she had read almost half of a book on her own, then she’d have to do something nice for her. It was truly impressive.  
Isabel turned her glare to Levi as she stated, “And then Kana-san can just stay in my room and cuddle for the night!”  
Levi flinched at her words and glared back at her. He flatly told her, “No.”  
Isabel waved her arms. “No fair! No fair, no fair, no fair! She said she would come stay with me on occasion again!”  
Levi still glared at her while Farlan pulled on Kana’s arm. “Let’s go before this becomes a warzone.”

Kana glared at the boxes of tea leaves in the market bin. She frowned and set the tin back. “They don’t have any of the same ones.”  
Farlan rubbed the back of his head. “I was afraid they wouldn’t.”  
Kana let out a loud groan of displeasure and asked, “You don’t think Isabel and Levi will actually start fighting do you? Isabel has seemed really upset with me recently. I haven’t been spending as much time with her.”  
Farlan chuckled and shook his head. “No. She’s just jealous. She doesn’t mean anything. I really think she’s mostly just playing around, but she did get really attached to you. I know when you first joined us, it was easy to see how much Isabel liked you. She looked up to you as a sister figure, much in the way she looked up to Levi as a brother figure. She covers it up by pretending to be upset about it, but I know she adores the two of you together. The first night, she wouldn’t shut up about it.”  
Kana blushed darkly, remembering how they got together that first night. Her blush only increased as she remembered that the two of them had heard everything. “Er…”  
Farlan laughed and patted her back. “You’re always noisy, Kana-chan.”  
She looked away, her cheeks heating up even more. Since that night, they’d been together several more times, but she had tried her best to stay quiet so they didn’t hear, but it seemed like each morning, Farlan and Isabel had stupid grins on their faces. She couldn’t tell if it ever bothered Levi and she guessed not, because it never stopped him from doing it again. “C-Can we talk about something else… Farlan?”  
Farlan chuckled as they walked on down through the bins and he tossed a few things in the basket. “What’s wrong, Kana-chan? You’re not embarrassed to be with him are you?”  
“What!?” Kana gasped, staring at him in true shock. “Of course not! Why would you – “  
“Then why are you embarrassed talking about it?” Farlan chuckled. “It’s nothing to be upset about it. It’s actually relieving, honestly.”  
“Huh?” Kana questioned.  
Farlan sighed, stretching as he walked. “You see… I really don’t know Levi that well. To be honest… I’m terrified of the guy. I was part of one of the group of thugs from the lower district. There was one day, I remember, we had gotten on Levi’s bad side. He wiped out a good chunk of our crew. Like a coward… I had begged for my life and he spared me. I couldn’t very well go back to the dark side… so I followed him. I never really could tell if he trusted me of not. I don’t think that he did. But there was once that he was ganged up on. He probably could have gotten out of it alone, but I helped him out. After that, he opened up, just a little bit to me. Or at least… he trusted me a bit. Shortly after, we found Isabel and slowly became who we are today. But, despite all of that, he kept his lips sealed shut. He rarely talks… about anything.”  
Farlan threw in some sweets in the basket. She recognized them as ones that Isabel was always eating.  
“I had come to believe that my friendship with him was based solely on my desire to live. I’ve gotten comfortable, knowing he won’t attack me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still afraid of pissing him off. I wonder… before you came along… if I would risk my own life for his.” Farlan sighed. “You see… if it was something that involved angering him… I wouldn’t have done it. Not ever. There’s nothing else that scares me more. That night. I would have let him go. I would have let him run to the lower district and let himself get himself killed.”  
Kana’s eyes widened. She wasn’t sure how to respond to this.  
“But you faced his anger.” Farlan continued. “You not only accepted his rage, but turned it on yourself. You gave him a less dangerous out for his rage. That’s something I didn’t know anyone was capable of doing. I’m too much of a coward. I admired what you did that night, but it made me realize something else, too.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t give Levi enough credit. What he portrays outwardly isn’t all he is. I never bothered getting to know him. So how could I expect him to open up and trust me when I never even thought to see what else he could be – “  
“You’re wrong.” Kana stated with finality. “You’re so wrong. He does trust you. He has since I’ve seen you guys, anyway.”  
Farlan stared at her with a bit of shock. “You really think so?”  
“How many times have you talked him out of doing something stupid?” Kana asked. “He looks up to you for guidance. He’s impulsive and he doesn’t think things through. But I’ve seen him several times trust your judgment and accept your decisions. If you tell him not to do something, unless he’s already worked up and pissed off, he’ll listen to you.”   
Farlan made a face that was a bit sad. “I don’t know that I believe you. But I have helped him a few times in that way. But the truth is, I don’t think anyone should ever rely on me.” He shivered. “I’m just… I’m a coward…” He looked back at her, his eyes sad. “I’m scared to die, Kana. I’ll do whatever it takes to live…”  
Kana huffed and shook her head. “Farlan… everyone is afraid to die. Do you think anyone wants to?”  
“Yes but not everyone – “ Farlan started. “Not everyone… runs. There are those, like Levi, that can stand up to their fears and face them – “  
“But they’re still afraid.” Kana stated. “There’s a moment in which we all break. When the fear becomes too much. There’s something that terrifies us more than anything else and it reduces to them to nothing but crying children. But that something is different for different people. For you, it might be death.”  
“Is there something you’re afraid of, Kana?” Farlan asked.  
“Yeah. There is.” Kana whispered. “Failure. Letting someone down. Failing to protect someone… all of it. It destroys me. No, my own death doesn’t terrify me like it might you. But losing someone close to me, or watching someone die so horribly by the titans or whatever… that truly breaks me. I’ve managed to put myself together, but I can never do it alone. Someone always has to help me. I’m not strong enough alone. But I am terrified of that, Farlan. So don’t think you’re the only one who is scared of something. Because you’re not.”  
Farlan smiled just a bit and said, “Thanks, Kana-chan.”  
Kana pushed him along. “Now lets go. I have an idea on how to get more of the tea leaves.”

Farlan looked up at the sign to the bar. “Are we really doing this?”  
Kana raised her fist. “I’ll arm wrestle the guy myself for another case of ‘em!”  
“You’re serious? You’re serious.” Farlan gasped when Kana marched in. He groaned and followed quickly after. If she got herself in trouble or hurt, he couldn’t imagine how furious Levi would be at him. Once inside, he glanced around at the guys all glaring at them. He whispered, “Kana, the tea is not this important. We’ll just get what we can find.”  
Kana raised her hand. “Shopkeeper!” She ran up to the bar where the man was leaning. He looked at her in surprise.   
“Oh, what’re you two doing here? And where’s the other two?” He asked skeptically. “And what took so long to come back? We said you’re welcome back any time, but it’s been weeks.”  
Farlan shrugged. “We’re from the middle district. We don’t make our way up here too often.”  
“Well why the hell not?” The guy chuckled.  
Farlan shook his head. “Sir… Kana has a question.”  
He looked at the little red head who was looking through the shelves behind the bar. “We need more of those tea leaves.” Kana told him. “The ones that Levi took last time. How much do you want for them?”  
The guy’s wife looked over, seeing what Kana was pointing at. She asked, “You want more of those tea leaves? Why? I can’t even hardly sell any of that tea. It’s too bitter and none of the customers order it.”  
Kana stuck her tongue out. “I’ll say. The crap is gross.”  
“Then… why do you want it?” The shopkeeper questioned.  
Kana looked down, her cheeks turning a dark shade of red. “Er…”  
Farlan chuckled and told them, “Levi likes it and she’s wanting to try and make it for him. But she keeps messing up the pots and it turns out terrible. She already went through the other case of leaves and we can’t find it at the market.”  
The woman started laughing and asked, “Would you like me to show you how to properly brew it? It’s not the same as other teas.”  
Farlan flinched. “I-It’s not?” Kana glared at him with eyes that said ‘you’ve been showing me wrong, this is your fault’.  
The woman shook her head and grabbed the case. “Oh heavens no. I’ll brew you a pot here and then you can take the rest of the case home. We don’t need your money.”  
Kana’s eyes brightened happily. “Really!? Thank you so much!”

Kana glared down at the cup, her tongue sticking out after burning it on the tea. “I don tase any diffence…” She grumbled around her tongue. “It’s still terrible.”  
The woman laughed. “It’s more of an acquired taste. I’ve noticed those of us with more of a sweet tooth don’t like it as much. But that’s how its supposed to taste after its done right.”  
She set the cup down. “To each their own.” She dumped it in the sink while the woman poured out the pot. She handed her the tin.  
“Good luck dear. If you need more help, just come back any time.” She told her.  
Kana nodded as she walked out. Back in the dining area, Farlan stood up and stretched. “Took you long enough. Let’s hurry back before the food spoils.”  
Kana stared at the tin can as they walked back home. Farlan sighed and asked, “Why do you insist on being able to make the tea, Kana-chan? It’s not that big of a deal and you know Levi doesn’t care.”  
Her gaze softened. This thing… it wasn’t about the Levi of this era. It was about all the times she remembered him cooking for her or her siblings. She was incapable of doing anything and even though this era’s Levi didn’t know anything about it, she wanted to return the favor. “It’s just important to me is all.”  
Farlan sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Alright…”  
When they finally got back, Farlan opened the door, almost immediately tackled by an overanxious Isabel. “You guys are back! About time!”  
Levi stood up and glared at them, sharply demanding, “What the hell took so long?”  
Farlan flinched at Levi’s aggressive tone, but Kana just grumbled and told him, “Relax, we were getting your special tea.”  
Levi’s eyebrow twitched. “It took you six hours?”  
Kana stuck her nose up and turned away, helping to put the groceries up. Isabel wrapped her arms around Kana’s waist when she was done and mewled, “Kana-san, come read to me again!”  
“Okay, okay…” Kana sighed as she was dragged off to Isabel’s room.  
Levi watched the two redheads walk down the hall and he sighed. He started to get up when Farlan commented, “That girl is totally in love with you, you know?”  
Levi glared at his friend, but the words made a little color come to his cheeks. He snapped, “What the hell do you know, Farlan?”  
“She made me run around all over the districts to find that tea.” Farlan explained. “She wants to be able to brew it for you.”  
He turned away and threw the core of the apple he was eating away. “That’s stupid.”  
Farlan shrugged his shoulders and headed out of the room. “If you say so. I thought it was kind of cute.”  
Levi leaned on the counter, glaring at the can of tea leaves. They were supposed to go shopping for groceries, but had been gone for several hours. He gritted his teeth. He’d been worried stupid. And come to find out, it was all because of this stupid tea. He narrowed his eyes, remembering their conversation earlier that morning. He supposed he had been a little hard on her.  
Why did she want to be able to brew the tea so desperately? It wasn’t like he couldn’t do it himself. And she was just wasting it by screwing it up. There was a warm tickle under his skin though, at the thought of her trying so hard for him. He wasn’t used to that kind of treatment. He didn’t dislike it.  
Come to think of it…  
He looked at the tin of tea leaves and grumbled. He’d never brewed this tea before either. He set it back down and headed down the hall, pausing outside of Isabel’s room.  
“…a-an-and… she r-ran d-d-d-doe-ow-down! She ran down… the… hall…what’s this one, Kana-san?”  
“Quickly.” Kana answered.  
Levi peeked in the open door. The two redheads were laying on the bed, both of them tucked under the blanket with the open book on their pillow.  
“Oh yeah! That’s the one that makes the weird sound. Like in quack! Like a duck!” Isabel started laughing and making faces which made Kana laugh as well.  
Levi’s hand clenched as he watched his whole world shatter around him. Those two girls were like two sides of the same coin, both of them equally important to him in two completely different ways. His heart swelled at the sight of them laughing and having a good time together. There was something the two girls brought to the table that no one else in the world could. It was like magic, the aura they radiated. Isabel’s happiness and innocence, Kana’s passion and love; they were the greatest things he’d ever experienced.  
Despite everything, this world had given him something so perfect.  
He sighed and walked on to his room, his arms crossed. Looks like he was going to be sleeping alone tonight. He’d let Isabel have her back for one night.  
After changing out of his clothes and straightening up his room enough he could stand it (which was spotless) he climbed into bed. For a while, his mind wandered, wondering if there was some way they could get to the surface. Then, their life would be even more perfect. He shifted on the bed when he heard his door open and looked over.  
Kana was quietly backing into the room, a bright smile on her lips. He glared and asked, “What are you doing?”  
“Isabel fell asleep.” Kana stated. Once the door was shut, she trotted over to his bed and wiggled under the covers. She found his body under the warmth of the blanket and attached herself to it, her head popping back up from the top of the blanket. She looked up at him. “Is that okay?”  
He looked away, his cheeks a dark red. “Yes. Of course it is.”  
It only took a moment for the little redhead to fall asleep. Following suit, he wrapped himself around her and nuzzled his head into her hair. Her scent relaxed him. He couldn’t resist her. And he certainly couldn’t live without her. She’d anchored him to a life he actually wanted. A life he wanted to live.  
He couldn’t help the tiniest smile that slipped onto his face. Isabel was wrong.  
He was her favorite.

“It’s too thin.” Levi growled, setting the cup of tea back on the counter. “It tastes like water.”  
Kana gritted her teeth. She thought she’d done everything just as the woman had showed her. But apparently it was still bad?  
Farlan hissed from behind her, closer to the counter. “You made us wait all that time and you still can’t make it right?”  
Kana frowned. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!”  
Farlan glared. “He said it’s too thin, right? So just do everything the same but put more leaves in.”  
“Okay…”

Levi glared at her over the top of the cup as he sipped at the tea once again. He slid the cup back over to her and growled, “There’s not even a hint of herb.”  
Kana gaped and looked over at Farlan. He shook his head. Kana sighed. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to add the herbs before mixing it up. She took the cup, dumping it and the pot out and trying again.  
With a heavy sigh, Farlan announced that he was going to go look for another a job, and took his leave.  
Isabel walked into the living room, seeing Levi reading the paper while Kana was at the fire, trying to brew tea. She dropped down beside Levi and looked at the paper, trying to read along the opposite side he was. Her brows furrowed when she was confused after just a couple lines. “Kana-san!”  
“What?” Kana asked, a bit impatiently.  
“What’s this word?” Isabel asked.  
“I’ll look at it in a second…” Kana murmured.  
Levi’s gaze slid over from the newspaper to look at Kana. She was perched, staring intently at the tea, ready to get it the second it started to whistle. She was so determined about such a simple thing. It entertained him to no end. Not to mention that her frustrated expression was so cute.  
When the whistle went off, she hurriedly poured him a cup and then set it in front of him. He set the newspaper down and looked up at her. Her crimson eyes were so hopeful, so passionate, that he felt he couldn’t look away to even take the drink. It had his heart racing.  
He took a sip and immediately frowned. The remains of the tea leaves were everywhere in this batch. It must have been a bad bag. He gritted his teeth. The taste wasn’t terrible this time, though. So he bit his tongue and lied, “Not bad.”  
But Kana glared at him. She saw right through his expression. “Liar. What’s wrong with it?”  
He sighed and moved the cup back to her. “It’s filled with tea grounds.”  
She grabbed the cup and poured it out in the sink, along with the pot once again. Levi commented, “Why don’t you just give it up? Obviously cooking and tea prepping aren’t your forte. It’s not import – “  
“Yes it is!” Kana yelled. “It is to me!” She slammed the pot down in the sink as she rinsed it out. “I can do it! I will eventually get it right!”  
Levi stared at her a little shocked. She was getting so worked up over brewing tea for him. The last time she’d raised her voice to him… His eyes narrowed, hating the memory. When Kana turned around to set the clean cup on the table, he saw it again. The bruises he’d left on her sternum and neck were still there. Like the wound on her stomach, they weren’t healing. So he had to look at them every day. And it didn’t help that she always wore open necked shirts.  
“Hey Kana-san…?” Isabel asked, pointing to the newspaper.  
“The word is enough, Isabel.” Kana told her.  
Isabel made a face. “But that not the sound those letters make…”  
“I know. It’s one of those weird words.” Kana told her, going to put another pot of tea over the fire. She heard Isabel slink back off to her room, but from the sound of rustling paper, she figured she had taken Levi’s paper.  
Kana stood up from the fire and started to step away, but gasped when she felt Levi snatch her arm and spin her around, pushing her back up to the wall. His forehead rested on hers and he said, “Speaking of enough, Kana. I don’t care that you can’t brew the stupid tea. It’s not a big deal.”  
Kana looked away, her eyes starting to get watery. “Yes it is. It is a big deal…”  
“Why? What’s so important?” Levi demanded.  
“It’s stupid so don’t ask me that!” She ordered, but she looked like she was about to cry. His brows furrowed. He wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t raising his voice, he wasn’t doing anything that had made her cry before. In fact, he thought he was being extra careful to never cause that again. He released her arm, but he still looked at her expectantly. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind.  
Kana glanced at him and then looked back down. She bit her lip and whispered, “It’s your favorite… so… I want to be able to make your favorite thing. Or… make some for you while you’re out and surprise you with it when you return home. It’s just… something I want to be able to do…” Her cheeks were dark red with embarrassment.  
He stared at her in shock. All of this nonsense, simply because she wanted to be able to make it for him? He narrowed his eyes, but his whole body felt warm. The amount of love and caring in this woman was endless and breathtaking. She really put him to shame. His arm slid from the wall and both of his limbs wrapped gently around her. He pressed his face into her hair and softly breathed, “Stupid… I love you…”  
Kana’s eyes widened at the words and after a moment of trembling, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly back. “I love you, too, Levi… more than you could ever understand…”  
“No… I think I understand very well.” He ran his hand through her hair just a couple times before softly pulling back. He gently kissed her, but the simple touch had his heart racing and aching. His hands slid down her lower back, pulling her body up against his. He wasn’t sure how, but it seemed like every time he was overfilled with love for her, he suddenly desired her body as well. It was like his form of possession, to remind himself that she was his and his alone.  
But Kana giggled and pulled back. She touched her finger to his lips. “Be patient. Let me try a few more times and if I get it, you can have me to celebrate tonight.” She smiled brightly at him.  
And it lit up his world.  
He sighed and dropped his arms. Now she was comfortable enough to even cut him off. He dropped back down at the table, watching her fix up the tea. He could never get tired of watching her. Despite everything he’d done to her, she acted like was some amazing person. He hurt her in a way he would never forgive himself for, but she never brought it up, never held it over his head, never made him feel guilty… nothing. She literally had just… forgotten about it. He wondered if she knew how much he owed her. He would do anything for her if she asked it. He felt, from the pit of his stomach that he owed her his own life.  
Because no one had ever brought him happiness like this.  
But still… she never asked anything of him. She never asked for a single damn thing. But her eyes spoke for her. For some stupid reason, this stupid girl wanted him. So she could have him. All of him and anything he had to offer.  
“I have a good feeling about this one.”  
Levi looked up as Kana held the steaming cup of tea in front of him.  
“I triple checked everything, made sure to pull it as soon as the steam went off, and I even added and extra ingredient.” When he took the cup, her hopeful eyes widened a bit and she told him, “Be honest…”  
He took a slow sip and his eyes widened. The bitter taste was at the perfect level. It was hot, but it didn’t burn his tongue and the herbs were wonderful and soothed his throat as he drank. He had never tasted a more perfect tea. He stared up at her after pulling the cup away and mumbled, “Not bad…” He glanced at the cup. “What was the extra ingredient?”  
“I kissed the tea leaves.” She giggled. The brightness that filled her gaze stopped his heart dead in its tracks. There was so much joy and pure happiness there that he felt his skin crawl. It was the most perfect expression for her. The curve of her lips and fullness of her eyes; more than perfect. He felt a longing stronger than any he’d ever felt before wash over him.  
He quickly finished the cup and then stood up, scooping her up bridal style. “Then we can celebrate, right?”  
Kana blushed darkly and kicked her legs. “N-Now? Levi, I said tonight!”  
“Now.” He growled, carrying her towards the bedroom.  
She sighed, but there was a smile on her lips. “Fine. You’re insatiable.” As soon as Levi shut the door behind them, Isabel trotted out of her room and knocked on the door.  
“Kana-san! I need help with this word!”  
Levi snapped, through the door, “Not now Isabel!”  
Isabel started banging on the door. “Stop hogging Kana-san! You big meany! You get her every night! You can’t take her during the day, too!”  
“Watch me.”  
“BROTHER!!!” Isabel whined before angrily kicking the door and storming away.  
Kana was laughing and glared up at Levi. “You’re such a jerk…”  
Levi’s gaze was loving as he looked down at her. “As long as I have you, I don’t care what I am.” And then, just like every time, the first thing he did was lean his lips down and follow the purple red marks down her skin. Almost as though he thought his lips could wipe them away.


	99. Silk Rose

“What are you really after?”  
Meria looked up and over at Demi, but there was no surprise in her face. “Demi. Stirring up trouble as usual.”  
“Stop that.” Demi ordered. She had stormed over to Meria before the others woke up, but she had disturbed Eren who was with her now. “Stop talking ot me like we have some sort of familiararity. I have no memories. I don’t know you. But one memory came back. I watched you kill Kana.”  
Meria sighed. “Of course you did. It makes sense that a traumatizing memory such as that would be the first to surface.”  
Eren’s eyes widened. “You’re not even going to deny it?”  
“What would be the point?” She questioned them. “You saw a memory and your interpretation of that memory is all there is, all that matters. There’s nothing I can really say or do to change that. But I will tell you… there’s much more to that memory than you realize.”  
Demi’s voice cracked. “You literally ripped her heart out.”  
“I thought that might work…turns out I was wrong.” Meria confessed.  
Eren was shaking. “Wh-what…”  
Demi shouted, “You’re a murderer!”  
“Hey.”  
The three of them looked over as Hanji and Levi walked up. The captain scowled, “What’s with all the noise this early?”  
Eren started to open his mouth but Demi yanked on his sleeve. “Nothing, sir.”  
Eren gasped, “But, Demi…”  
Demi looked at him, her emerald gaze confident, “I know it sounds bad, but we need to learn everything we can. We can’t reveal this knowledge yet.” She turned back to Meria who stood up with a box in her arms. “Why did you want to? Kill Kana, I mean?”  
Meria sighed. “She wanted to kill all of you.”  
Demi’s eyes widened, going back to all of the arguments she and Kana had before she was sent back. Despite every one of them, she had never gotten the sense that the red head woman wanted her dead. She hadn’t felt like she wanted to kill anyone.  
But was that true?

Meria set the box down in the middle of the area. “I collected what I needed from here. I promised you gifts and so I’ve brought them.”  
Leah leaned over and asked, “So what are they? Will they actually help us?”  
When Meria looked up, she saw that everyone in the group had collected around her. Before she opened the box, she stated, “Only the Slayers and their weapons can touch these. No one else can lay a hand on them.” When she finally lifted the top of the box to reveal it’s contents, Demi’s eyes widened, remembering the other chunk of memory she had uncovered when she had chased after Kana during that storm.  
Three roses were laying inside of soft padding inside of the box. They were glistening, bursting with power and almost glowing on their own. Demi whispered, “Silrauses.”  
Meria looked at her in surprise. “You remember?”  
Demi shook her head. “No, not exactly. I remembered a brief conversation where Kana explained that these are where her namesake came from. She said something about them being powerful.”  
Meria’s gaze softened – it was the first time it had since she’d come here. “Yes. They are. But they’re…rare. I’d spent much of my time studying them, trying to understand what they were. These are the only three I’ve found my entire life.” She pointed to the first one. “When I first woke up, it was laying beside me. It was all I had in a world I knew nothing about. The second one I found during one of the hardest battles of my life. The last… I found the day I lost everything.” She looked up at them. “And now I know why I kept them. So I could give them to you three.”  
Tsuki leaned her hands on her knees and asked, “Let us in on the secret. Just cause Demi remembers doesn’t mean we do.”  
Meria’s fingers traced the petals of the first flower as she explained, “These beautiful flowers are called Silrauses in our foreign tongue. They’re silk roses. For some strange reason, these used to be found all over here. It was believed that maybe even they were the source of the collection of energy which gave birth to weapons. When given to a weapon, it’s strength multiplies – by significant margins. These are dangerous for normal humans to touch, however. There have been times in which a human has been known to degenerate completely after contact with one of these flowers.  
Obviously, since then, the rumors of these flowers being responsible for the creation of weapons was proven false – considering they’re almost entirely extinct and yet weapons are still born here. But the truth of them enhancing a weapons power is true.”  
Hanji’s eyes widened. “So then… you brought them here to give them the flowers… so their powers would be at their highest peak…”  
Meria nodded her head. “My intention is to put Tsuki in a position of immeasurable strength, which should make it easier to modify the timewrap. She won’t have to worry about her weapon’s limited strength becoming a hinderence for her.”  
“Makes sense to me.” Tsuki agreed.  
Meria turned the box around. “Tsuki, Demi, Leah. Each of you take one and offer it to your weapon.  
Demi’s eyes were narrowed and she made no move – however Tsuki did. She carefully reached into the box and withdrew the first flower. She cupped it gingerly in her hands. The crimson and black flower glowed all on it’s own, casting a shimmering light over all of them.  
Leah breathlessly whispered, “This… is amazing…”  
Tsuki nodded in agreement and turned and walked slowly towards Amaak. She held her hands out. “Here… she said to give it to you…”  
Amaak looked passed Tsuki and at Meria. _Are you so certain about this? These could be the last Silrauses left in this world. Surely you don’t think that I’m -_  
Meria stood back to her feet. “It doesn’t matter now. What good would it be to have the last Silrauses if the world is in ruin? To the end of saving humanity, I’ll sacrifice these flowers…”  
Amaak seemed unsure but he sturned back to Tsuki. If she wanted this, then it wasn’t his position to question. He leaned his muzzle into Tsuki’s hands and took the flower, swallowing it with one bite. A growl rippled through him and his fur began to pulse more with light.  
Following cue, Leah and Demi took the other two flowers. Sarthis wrapped around Demi’s arm and ate the flower as well, meanwhile the one in Leah’s hand disappeared into light as though being swallowed up by energy.  
The air around them began to cackle and pulse with power.  
Meria nodded her head. “Good. Now there’s just one last step and then all of you will be ready to become true Slayers. But time is of the essence now. This area is surging with power. It’ll keep titans away, but our presence will be known.”


	100. Tell Me You Want to Live!

The next morning, Kana rolled over, grumbling when she didn’t feel her lover beside her. The bed felt too cold and it fully woke her up. Her crimson eyes opened just the slightest bit, looking across the room to see Levi pulling on his clothes. She shifted and sat up to her elbows. “Levi…?”  
He glanced over at her, his eyes warm – as they always were when it was just the two of them. “Good morning.” He whispered. His voice was barely audible and she wondered why he was being so quiet suddenly.  
Kana asked, “What’re you doing…?”  
Levi’s gaze shifted to the door a moment before he answered, “There’s someone here that has a job for us. He’s from the surface and seems a little sketchy. I don’t even want him to know you’re here, okay?”  
Kana blinked, confusion in her crimson eyes. “Okay… so I’m guessing I’m not helping this time?”  
“Not with this one.” Levi stated. “I would just feel better if this guy didn’t know you existed.”  
Kana nodded and then lay her head down. “Just lemme know when you’re done…”  
A warm smile split his lips and he walked back over to her as he pulled his shirt on over his shoulders. He leaned down and kissed her forehead before stepping out of the room. The second he was out the door, curiosity pulled Kana out of bed and towards the open door way. She leaned as close as she could without being seen and listened in.  
From where she was, she couldn’t hear much. She heard a few unimportant words and phrases, but the only thing of any importance that she heard was ‘lower district’. Her eyes narrowed. Was it another offer to take down the thugs in the lower district? Recently, they had been getting more and more. All of the districts feared them and their ruthlessness and wanted an end put to it.  
She heard Farlan yell, “No means no, so you can leave now. Quit bothering us with this!”  
Kana frowned. It was weird to hear him getting so worked up over something. She heard a door open and close. She stepped away from the door way and put on her black shorts and red tank top. A moment later, Levi walked in. Kana innocently asked, “Anything good?”  
“Like you weren’t listening.” Levi scoffed.  
Kana scratched her cheek and laughed. She asked, “Aren’t those lower district thugs after you guys to begin with? Why doesn’t Farlan want to just knock them out?”  
Levi shrugged, reaching over and helping her pull her jacket up over her shoulders. “He insists that if we leave them alone, they’ll leave us alone. He says they’re too dangerous to mess with so we need to just stay out of their way.”  
Kana paused and looked at him curiously. “Do they have anything to do with the knives we keep getting in our door?”  
Levi paused, plucking off the white fuzzies that were sticking to her shoulders. “…Yeah…”  
“Then to me, it sounds like they aren’t staying away from us, they’re egging us on. It’s only a matter of time before they – “ Kana started but Levi just mussed her hair.  
“Let’s not worry about it for now. Let’s go. I want to take you somewhere.” Levi told her, resting a hand on her lower back and prodding her out.  
Kana gave him a curious look, but left as she was told.

Compared to the usual times that they went through it, the upper district was fairly quiet. It was the middle of a week day, so she supposed most of the inhabitants were either in the middle district or up on the surface. Her gaze spied the road that led up to the surface. There were a few people walking between with carts either empty or full. But Kana was following Levi elsewhere, towards where the cavern wall came up from under the buildings. She looked at him curiously, but he didn’t say anything.  
As they drew closer, Kana noticed a section where the rock wall jutted out just a little further. The crevasse dipped deeper into the rock a little ways and there was a small tunnel there. A couple rocks had been set to be able to climb up to it – but not obvious in a way that attracts attention. Levi took her hand and helped her up the rocks before leading her through the narrow tunnel.  
It was dark. Not just dark. It was obsidian. There was no light trickling this far down into the tunnels. Massive amounts of torchlights lit the underground city with assistance from the main pathway. But in this narrow tunnel, there was nothing to be seen, no light to guide the way. This was something new to her. She had never been enclosed in such a tight, dark space. She felt trapped. She felt like her breath was being sucked out of her lungs. Her heart started to race and her hands and legs became shaky. There were no sounds except for the steady drip of water along the tunnel, just enough to make the rocks slick. But she could hear her own breathing becoming heavier as panic settled into her chest. She needed out of this tunnel. She needed to leave before something came for her. Before the walls closed completely around her. She needed –   
Kana gasped when she lost her footing on one of the rocks and she landed hard on her knee. She gave a sharp noise but she heard Levi slide right back down beside her. His hands found her through the darkness and steadied her. “You okay?” He asked. “I forgot you’re not used to this.”  
“S-Sorry.” Kana panted, feeling a little calmer with his hands on her. “I guess I’m a little claustrophobic.”  
“Alright. We’ll hurry.” Levi told her, starting on up the tunnel again. But this time, he kept a hold of her hand and guided her through. The darkness didn’t seem to last as long as she felt like it was going to. A light started to shimmer up ahead and grew until it consumed them and Kana had to close an eye and shield the other.  
The small tunnel opened up into a much wider pathway that was lined with brick. There were puddles of water as well as a stream that went down the middle from improper guttering. Most of the light was coming from the end of this short path, but also from the breaks every now and then in the ceiling that lead to the surface. Sun was shining in brightly through the gaps.  
Still Levi pulled her along.  
At the end of the pathway was where he finally stopped. Her eyes widened. There was a break in the ground that was much wider than any of the others. She could see the clear blue sky and even birds flying off in the distance. He lead her on up the mound of dirt that brought them close enough it felt like they could touch the sky. Her eyes widened a bit when a foreign feeling wrapped around her. It was a smell she’d never had before. It was genuine air. This hole in the ground opened up somewhere beyond the walls and into the outside world where the titans were.  
This air… smelled of freedom.  
Levi pulled his own jacket off and tossed it on the muddied ground. He grumbled about it always being gross, but worth it. Then, to her, he said, “Isabel, Farlan, and I found this a while back. I’m not sure exactly where this break in the ground is, but you can tell it’s not inside of the walls. This little area is a ruin of some sort and the water washed a path all the way down into the underground.”  
Kana stared in awe at the sky. Without the ruckus of the inner walls, it seemed to her like a completely different kind of sky. She closed her eyes and breathed in. She could smell flowers… fresh pollen. The wind was gentle but unhindered by the buildings. It still carried the soft smells of nature, but it caressed her skin like fabric sewn by mother nature herself.  
“We come here to relax often, but I realized we haven’t been here since meeting you. I thought you’d want to see it.” Levi stated. “Maybe one day we can truly live on that surface there – without the fear of being killed by titans.” He dropped down on the jacket, but left enough room for her to sit beside him.  
Instead, she climbed down, resting with her head in his lap. He had stiffened at first, but then relaxed, his hand resting in her hair. He gently thumbed through it. The feeling was gentle and calming, and coupled with the fresh air smell that was cascading through the break in the surface, it had her feeling like freedom was so close. Just a few steps away. Compared to the underground she’d been cooped up in for months, she realized now why the three of them were wanting to get to the surface so badly.  
She felt Levi lean back and relax as well, turning his head towards the sky. As she drifted to sleep, she wondered just what was going through his mind as they sat there, enjoying the smells of freedom.  
When Levi heard a soft noise, he looked down, seeing that the redhead in his lap had fallen asleep. Her face was even more gentle when she was asleep than when she was awake – which was hard for him to believe. The sunlight danced on their skin and his eyes widened, seeing that her dark red hair glowed with a bright orange red. It literally look like her hair caught fire, especially when the wind caught the ends of the strands and threw them about. His thumb brushed her lip.  
She looked just like an angel.  
Was she truly his? His hand trembled against her cheek. What did he do to deserve someone so precious and kind in his life? She was the exact opposite of him. Why did she want to be with a guy like him? What could she see in him?  
He tipped his head back up and closed his eyes. He didn’t know who or what to thank for bringing her into his life, but whatever it was…  
…he prayed it didn’t take her back…

Kana was clinging to Levi’s arm as they headed back to the middle district. As they walked, he noticed a small group of guys walking across the pathway. He recognized them as some of the thugs from the lower district. He shook Kana off his arm and wrapped it protectively around her instead. Of all the days for them to be wandering up out of their dark hole. He’d follow Farlan’s advice and just duck his head and keep to himself. He prodded Kana along.  
One of the guys stepped out and bumped into his other side. His eyes darkened. If it was just him, he’d probably have shoved the guy back into his place. But with Kana’s injury, he didn’t want to drag her into any unnecessary fighting. Not that she couldn’t hold her own.  
The guy snapped from behind him, “Hey, aren’t you at least going to apologize you stupid shorty!?”  
Levi gritted his teeth but kept walking. Kana looked up at him curiously and their pace quickened. He had to control his temper. They didn’t want to fight here. But he froze when he heard the sound of metal being drawn. He looked over his shoulder to see that the guy had drawn a gun. Shit. Of course the one day he didn’t bring his gear.  
“Are you deaf!?” The guy demanded.  
One of the men on the street held his hands up at the thug. “W-Wait sir. Don’t you know they’re – “  
The thug snarled, “Are you asking for a hole in your head?”  
Levi whirled around, bringing Kana with him just as the gun cracked. He could feel the wind of the bullet graze by him. He released her and ran towards the man, jumping up and slamming both of his feet into the guy’s chest.  
Kana started to help Levi when she saw another two thugs go for him, but someone grabbed her arm from behind. She whirled around, kicking the guy square in the nuts, but another man grabbed her by her hair and yanked her back. She made a noise of pain and it made Levi look back over. His eyes narrowed in rage, but it distracted him long enough that a guy punched him across the mouth, knocking him down to one knee.  
Kana let out a snarl as another guy moved in on her as the first held her by her hair. She reached up and grabbed the guys wrist, lifting her off the ground and swinging her legs up. The toes of her boots hit the guy in the chin, knocking him backwards. She flipped on up, kneeing the guy who had her hair in the face. She gasped when he released her and she hit the ground along with him.  
She was slow getting up and the guy she kicked was already back on his feet going for her. Kana raised her hand as the guy went to kick her and caught his ankle. But he was reaching for her until a blur moved behind him, hitting him hard enough that his body went straight to the ground. Levi’s eyes were wide with fury as he snarled, “Stay the fuck away from her.”  
A guy was going for Levi again and he pushed him off, elbowing him in the face and fending off more thugs as they surrounded them. Kana had just gotten to her feet when she felt someone put her in armlock. She gasped as she was yanked backwards. She raised her knee to defend off the next attacker, but too late, she felt a fist meet with her stomach.  
Not just her stomach. Right in her injury. Her eyes widened as sheer agony over came her. The stitches tore apart under the impact and she felt blood bubble up her throat until she coughed it up and went limp.  
Levi’s eyes widened and he screamed, “Kana!” He ran right for her, ready to kill the thug holding her as well as the one who hit her, but another man moved in between, kicking out Levi’s leg. Using Levi’s own momentum, he grabbed Levi’s hair and slammed him straight down into the ground.  
The thugs were laughing. Levi struggled to get up, trying to catch his breath. He felt dizzy. God dammit… how hard had he hit his head? He could make out the blur of crimson in front of him, but no matter how far he reached out, he wasn’t close enough. He couldn’t grab her.  
He couldn’t protect her.  
The thug holding up Kana was laughing as he lifted up her limp body. “What’s so special about this little one? Another rat you took pity on?”  
A smaller thug snickered, “She’s kind of cute, lets take her with us.”  
“I like that idea. Then we’ll finally get our fight.” The one guy chuckled. He glanced down at the blood pooling on Kana’s shirt on the left side of her stomach. “I think we broke her…”  
Levi shot up. He couldn’t see straight but there was no way in hell he was letting them take her. The guy easily dodged his swinging fists and turned, kicking Levi in the back of his legs, causing them to buckle under him. He hit the ground, his rage like a wild fire.  
But the lower district thugs were walking away, an unconscious Kana in their grasp.  
It took Levi some time to be able to drag himself back home. He shoved the door open, struggling to even see the handle through his blurred vision. The sound caused both Farlan and Isabel to shoot up. Isabel shrieked, “Big bro!? What’s going on? Where’s Kana-san…?”  
Levi was panting, barely able to speak through the fury rising from his stomach. “Those fucking bastards… from the lower district…” He was starting to be able to see shapes again, but his legs were still weak under him. He stumbled in, but Isabel and Farlan caught him, helping him to the table. He pushed them back and snarled, “Get the fuck away from me. Get your gear on and help me go after them!”  
Isabel frowned and shouted at him, “But big bro! Your head is bleeding!”  
“That’s not important right now!” Levi snapped, pushing them back and storming to his room, grabbing his gear.   
Farlan ran into the door way of his room and told him, “Levi! Be rational about this! The three of us can’t just go running into the heart of their territory! It’s suicide!”  
Levi’s eyes narrowed darkly and hatefully. For a moment, he remembered that night. He remembered Kana trying so desperately to stop him from doing something stupid out of pure rage. But this time she wasn’t here… and her life was in danger. There was no stopping him this time. He stood up straight, finishing strapping on his gear. “You’re right.” He pushed past Farlan. “I’ll go alone then.”  
“But – Levi - !” Farlan yelled at him.  
Isabel ran out of her room, already in her own gear as well. “I’m going with Big Bro, too!”  
Farlan’s hands clenched into fists as he watched them heading for the door. He couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Kana. This could be his chance to stop being a coward. But his body was shaking with fear. He was more than just a little terrified. He didn’t want to die…  
But he didn’t want one of his friends to die either. He hurried into his own room, yanking on his gear, and running after them.

Everyone was glaring at them once they crossed over into the lower district. But Levi didn’t pay any mind to any of it. He knew he who he was looking for and no one was going to stop him. Someone was going to die for this. His grip was tight on his trigger hilts. The second anyone thought of moving in on them, he’d kill them on the spot.  
They came to the building he knew was the headquarters. Levi kicked the doors open and stepped inside. His eyes narrowed. There was no one here. The abandoned building had been abandoned once again. Fear settled like a rock in Levi’s stomach. Where the hell was Kana? He turned around to start to leave when they noticed a group of men at the door. Each of them had a weapon in their hand.  
Levi tensed up, his grip tightening on the triggers. He sharply demanded, “Where is she!?”  
Isabel shouted up at them, “Give us back Kana-san now!”  
The first guy in the group waved his hand. “If you’re talking about the other redhead, she’s served her purpose to lure you guys down here. We dumped her off. She was bleeding too much, anyway.”  
Levi’s eyes widened before he gritted his teeth. His gaze darkened and narrowed until it became as pitch black as the room around them. “Isabel. Farlan. Go find Kana. I’m going to take care of these stupid bastards.”  
Isabel gasped and shouted, “No way! Not alone!”  
Levi glared over his shoulder at Farlan. “I know you don’t want to fight here. Go find her and get back. She’s going to need new stitches.”  
Farlan hesitated, but he realized he had no reason to stay. Not only was he terrified of the look in Levi’s eyes, but he didn’t want to fight these people. He knew them and knew how dangerous they were. He gritted his teeth, taking a step back before turning and running the opposite way as the thugs charged Levi and Isabel. Both of them had their gear. They’d be fine. All he had to do was stay out of the way, find Kana, and get back to their place. He gritted his teeth.   
He wondered if they would be able to escape the onslaught of the lower district now.  
He threw open the back door of the building, but it opened up into a long hall way. His eyes widened when a stench overcame him. This darkened hall was lined with corpses. All of the left over bodies of the innocents they’d looted. The smell was so rancid that he almost threw up that very moment. He walked on until he came to a body that was lain out in the middle of the hall. His eyes widened when he recognized the dark red hair drenched in blood.  
His blood ran cold as he slowly rolled Kana onto her back. His eyes were wide in shock. There was so much blood. There was no way she could still be alive. But he pressed his fingers to her neck just in case.   
No way…  
There was still the faintest beating below the skin.  
There was no possible way a human could survive losing this much blood.  
Kana opened her eyes just a bit and murmured. “Farlan? Why are you here?”  
“We came to rescue you… but you’re…”  
Kana shook her head a bit and started to sit up. “I’ll be okay…”  
He couldn’t move from his shocked state. There was no way what he was seeing was real. No human could live after something like that, let alone sit up. She pressed her hand to her stomach and asked, “Where’s Levi and Isabel?”  
“They’re back there fighting.” Farlan answered. “But don’t worry about that. We need to get you back and get you stitched up.”  
Kana shook her head. “I have to help them.” She climbed on to her feet but Farlan grabbed her arm and shouted, “You’re no condition to go fight them! You’d only get in the way. Please. Just come back with me.”  
Kana gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. Her body was weak and useless right now. She nodded her head and turned on her heel. Farlan stayed close to her as they walked. He kept expecting her to just collapse. She had lost so much blood and she was so pale, but she looked like she was just a little sore. Not that her life was in danger.  
They made it to the end of the hall and opened up the back door. They were at the edge of the underground city. There wasn’t much space between the end of the building and the cavern wall. But they trotted down the slope of mud, slipping and sliding due to the drain off of the rocks. They hadn’t gotten very far until they heard the shouts of some of the gang members who’d spotted them leaving.  
Kana cursed and the two of them ran down the slope. Several times she lost her balance and caught herself on the stone wall. Farlan was the same way. At the bottom of the slope, there was a sewer pipe that opened up into the wall. All of the water and moisture that collected in the ground was being collected their and draining into the earth. It was a fairly large pipe, probably big enough for her to crawl into. But she didn’t know how long it was and didn’t want to risk trapping themselves.  
They hurtled over the sewer water and started climbing back up the hill on the other side. Kana looked back, seeing that they were closing in fast. A group of five started to cross the stream when all of a sudden the water current changed. There was a small rumbling in the ground. Kana’s eyes widened as mud and rock started sliding towards the pipe and the water started falling into a small hole that was slowly getting bigger.  
The ground was giving way more and more, swallowing up the gang members that had been chasing them. The water wearing away at this section must have caused the earth below to erode and open up a massive sink hole. It was getting closer and closer to them. The ground gave out under one of her feet and she slid, but she grabbed the top of the sewer pipe and pulled herself back up. But the mud under her boots was too slick and she kept sliding back down as she climbed.  
Farlan was pulling himself up on a large rock and was just about to the next one. The rock gave way and he slid down into the black abyss. Kana let out a scream of terror and let go, sliding down until she hit the last rock at the edge of the sink hold and grabbed Farlan’s arm. He was already slipping from her grasp.  
She grabbed his arm with both hands, but now her body was sliding down the mud. She got one foot on a solid rock and lifted her other, bracing it on the top of the sewer pipe. For the moment, the sinkhole stopped expanding. Kana was panting, having to use all of her effort to keep from both of them sliding into the darkness.  
Farlan was staring up at her with terrified eyes. “Kana-chan…”  
“Hold on…” Kana ordered through gritted teeth. Her body felt like it was literally breaking. Farlan was so heavy and her injury made her body so sore. Not only that but the mud on his sleeve was making it nearly impossible to keep a grip on him. He was just dangling in the open space. Kana hadn’t ever heard the other thugs land; their screams had only faded away until there was nothing. So there was no way of knowing just how deep this sink hole was.  
Farlan’s whole body was trembling in her grasp. He shakily told her, “Kana-chan… just let me go. I’m already done for. There’s no sense in both of us dying here.”  
Kana glared down at him harshly. “Cut the crap, Farlan!”  
His eyes widened. “Wh-What?”  
“I don’t want to hear that bullshit! You don’t want to die here. Not in a place like this!”  
“I just don’t want you to have to die for no reason, it’s too late for me…”  
“Don’t give up on me, Farlan! You’re not dead yet! I’m not going to let you die here!”  
“Just stop, Kana! Two deaths instead of one is pointless! I don’t want you to – “  
“Stop lying to me!”  
Farlan’s eyes widened.  
Kana snarled, “What happened to the Farlan that was a coward!? Who told me he didn’t want to die!? I can see it in your eyes! You’re terrified aren’t you? You don’t want to die like this. You don’t want your life to end here. You don’t have to have a noble death, Farlan! And falling in a damn hole wouldn’t be one! So tell me the truth! Do you want to die?”  
“I just don’t want you to – “  
“Answer the damn question!” Kana screamed. “Do you want to die!? Make me believe it! Look me in the eye and tell me that you want to die here! Because if you do, then I’ll let you go! But if you don’t, then I swear to god I’m not going to let you fall!”  
Farlan’s voice was hoarse. He couldn’t find his own voice to answer her question. The only connection he had to life right now were her hands slipping slowly down his arm. He didn’t have much time. But how was she even able to hold on in her condition. He could see the blood dripping from her shirt. She shouldn’t be able to stand or anything, but here she was, desperately trying to keep him from falling.  
Of course he didn’t want to die. He was so terrified of what would happen at the bottom of this sink hole. He was so scared of what horrendous pain he’d feel before death. His grip on her arm tightened and his eyes began to water.   
Kana’s gaze softened. She felt the pain in her body scorching her from the inside out. Her stomach hurt so badly and she felt numb from the sheer pain of it. But she couldn’t let someone so close to Levi die. Especially not like this. “Isn’t there more you want to do with your life, Farlan? Don’t you have a goal you want to achieve?”  
Farlan’s tears started racing down his cheeks. “I want to go to the surface. I want to experience freedom. And then… I want to write a book about it. I want to write a story… that will blow Isabel’s mind. I want her to say that my book was the best one you’d ever read to her…”  
Kana felt her heart slowing down. It seemed like she could almost feel his hopes and dreams pouring into her. Everything this man was and ever would be was in her hands. If she dropped him, every dream he didn’t achieve would be on her shoulders. She would not let him go. No matter what. Her grip tightened and she told him, “Then say it…”  
“What?” Farlan asked.  
“Tell me you don’t want to die…” Kana ordered him, her muscles tightening up in her body.  
“I don’t…”  
“Tell me you want to live, Farlan!” Kana shouted at him, her eyes narrowed and she felt her Slayer energy starting to activate and pulse through her veins.  
Farlan screamed with all his strength, “I want to live!”  
A rush of energy burst from her leg like a fire on gasoline. Red energy danced around her and she lifted her arms and her body with all her might. She propelled off the top of the sewer drain with such force that it bent and shattered under her foot. But she was already moving up. She lifted Farlan up over her body and threw him on up the rocky slope behind her. She turned on the rock she was bracing on, her foot sliding off but she caught herself on the leg she’d originally propelled herself off of.  
In a matter of seconds they climbed the slope and were at the top of the hill.  
Kana dropped to her knees and panted. She was dizzy. Using her Slayer energy without her weapon was dangerous. Too dangerous. She didn’t even know if she’d be able to do that again. Her gaze moved to Farlan who was staring at her in awe.  
He stuttered, “K-Kana… what… are you?”


	101. Soulbound

Tsuki looked at Meria questioningly. “What’s the last thing?”  
Meria offered her a kind smile. “Remember…I said that Slayers were created to be a weapon for humanity, right?” When the blue Slayer nodded to her question, she carried on, “Humans want a way of controlling their weapons. Humans are the center point of a Slayer actually being able to unlock their ability.”  
When everyone remained silent, Leah commented, “That’s… kinda cryptic.”  
Meria fanned her hands out. “Most Slayers will go their entire lives without unlocking their full potential because they don’t find a compatible human. In very few cases was this possible and I know that it’s possible here just by looking at all of you.” She walked forward and took Tsuki’s hands in her own. “When a Slayer and Weapon bond with a human, their true strength is unlocked. The sould of a human provides the final bridge to manifest the last of a weapons power. Someone at 40% could reach 100 if bonded to a human.”  
Tsuki whispered, “That’s amazing.”  
“What does that mean though?” Armin demanded. “You say bonding to a human like it’s such a simple thing. What happens? What are the advantages and disadvantages?”  
Meria laughed softly. “Your questions are abrupt and panicky my young human friend. Could it be that…You think you’ll be a human selected to be bound?”  
Instinctively, Armin’s gaze went to Leah and they both quickly looked back away from each other. Meria laughed harder. After a moment, she settled down, “Much the same as bonding with a weapon, the Slayer will bind with the human. It’s through an exchange of blood. Once bound, when a Slayer uses their weapons, the humans mind will be parted. I’m certain it will be hard to comprehend without experiencing but…it will be as though the human is it two places. They will be able to react and see the world around them, but they will also be with the Slayer and Weapon, able to see and react with them. The Slayer, the Weapon, and the human will all be in perfect unison. They’ll think each others thoughts, feel each others feelings, all of it. The consequence, of course, is that pain is also shared. Should a bound Slayer be struck, the human will feel it as though it’s happening to them. There will be no physical injury of course – but that won’t change what you feel.”  
Everyone was staring in awe at this news and glances were even cast between others.  
Hanji rubbed the back of her head. “I tell you. If I hadn’t seen the events of 6 years ago…and watched all these crazy things happen with these girls… I’d just assume this lady was off her meds. Binding souls and sharing pain and all that… it seems so far-fetched.”  
Leah looked up at the woman. “You know so much about all of this but you said Slayers actually binding to humans was rare. You’re a weapon, right? Did you Slayer bind to a human?”  
Meria’s eyes widened before softening. There was a flood of pain that washed through her eyes before they were hidden away by her lids. Her brows pinched and her voice cracked. “Yes. He was. Until he was killed.”  
Demi stopped her foot. “Liar!”  
Meria’s eyes shot open. “What?”  
Demi snarled, “How can your Slayer be dead if you aren’t!?”  
Tsuki held her hands out. “Demi – “  
“It’s a valid question.” Levi interjected. “That goes against what we know to be true of the relationship between Slayers and Weapons.”  
“Does it?” Meria whimpered before she turned her head away. “They killed him while I was unconscious.”  
Leah’s eyes widened, remembering Kana mentioning before that if a Weapon was incapacitated that the Slayer could die. “How long were you out?”  
Meria wouldn’t look at them anymore. “Seven minutes.”  
“So… a Slayer really can’t heal from a fatal blow if their weapon isn’t with it?” Tsuki repeated.  
Meria nodded. “The relationship between Slayer and Weapon is defined by the exchange of energies formed when binding their souls together. When a member of the exchange is unconscious, the link stops. Both souls have to be available for the link to become active again. Weapons generate enough life force that as long as they’re conscious, they can retain their end of the link and force life energy through it. But if the Slayer passes while the Weapon is unconscious or dead, the link is completely broken. In order to restore it, the link would have to be mended, which would require a live soul. Thus… you see the problem.”  
“So… because your Slayer lost his life while you unconscious… he couldn’t come back?” Leah repeated.  
Meria whispered, “That’s right. That’s the… worst thing imaginable for a weapon… to not be able to protect your Slayer.”  
Mizuki let out a confirming noise of sadness from where she clung to Levi’s poncho.  
Hanji frowned at her but then blinked. “Oh. So… is being in a different time the same as being unconscious?”  
Meria blinked and looked at the tiny weapon. She held her hands out for Mizuki to come to her but the girl stared blankly. Sadness crept back into her eyes and she coiled her fingers back up, realizing that the girl still hadn’t forgiven her. “To be honest. I don’t know. Tsuki is the first Time Slayer I’ve met. So… I’ve never heard about the concern or had to worry about it. In my honest opinion, if space doesn’t affect the link… I don’t believe time will either. Mizuki is far too weak to be able to help heal or anything across this spanse of time.”  
“Weak?” Levi repeated.  
“Yes. She’s a class 5 weapon.” Meria stated before she paused. “Ah. I hadn’t explained that yet either. Sorry. It’s just a ranking scale based on the amount of power known weapon types have. It’s also based on sensations from Slayers and usability and durability. Mizuki is actually the lowest class weapon. She’s a 5. She’s cute and does the job, but doesn’t pack nearly the same punch as others.”  
Leah eagerly shouted, “What’s Djovaak!?”  
Meria laughed light-heartedly and it was like the awful conversation just before this never even happened. “Mizuki is a 5. Djovaak and Sarthis are both class 3’s.”  
Tsuki blinked, “And Amaak?”  
Meria dipped her head. “Class 2. It’s why you’re struggling so much.”  
“Okay and what about you?” Hanji asked.  
Meria paused and then looked back at the quizzical researcher. “I’m Class 1. The only Class 1 left. Well, the only usable Class 1 left.”  
Hanji smiled knowingly. “No wonder you were able to take all of those titans out so easily. You’re a force be reckoned with.”  
“I can be frightening when I want to be.” Meria confirmed.  
Demi grumbled, “I’ll say…”  
Meria clapped her hands suddenly. “Alright! That’s enough of the question and answer session! Who’s ready to try it out – bonding?” She looked expectantly at Tsuki.  
Tsuki swallowed hard and scratched her cheek. “Guess that would be me.”  
Meria nodded. “Do you have a human you’ll bond with?”  
Immediately the blue Slayer looked over at Jean who’s cheeks were dusted in pink. He couldn’t make eye contact with her. For some reason, it felt, weirdly intimate to be considered for this position. He didn’t want to tell her no, but honestly, he was kinda terrified.  
Tsuki walked over to him and turned her back to the others, placing her hands in his. “Jean…” She looked up into his eyes and he shyly made eye contact with her. She continued, “You don’t have to say yes. But…I want it to be with you. She said that… when using Amaak, whoever I’m bonded to will hear my thoughts and feelings and…I… don’t want to share any of that with anyone except you.”  
Jean gritted his teeth, his cheeks getting more red by the moment. He whispered, “And… you know of course, I don’t want you to have that with anyone else but me, too, right?”  
Tsuki nodded. “But I know this is a scary thing I’m asking you to – “  
“Fighting titans is scary.” Jean interjected. “Choosing the Survey Corps was scary. Watching you love someone else was scary. This? This? Binding our souls together for any cause – especially for the good of our future… that’s not scary. I love you, Tsukiko. I have no hesitation. I’m just… a bit… embarrassed that this was a public spectacle.”  
Eren laughed and shouted, “Get over it horseface! Let’s go!”  
Jean snarled at him, “Shut up Eren! We’re having a moment!”  
Meria walked over to them and pulled a knife from her hip holster. She handed it to Tsuki. “A small cut is fine. Typically on the hands where it bleeds a little more, hold them together. You should feel something. Then… summon Amaak.”  
Tsuki nodded. “Yeah o-okay…” Her hand shook a little as she held the blade to her own skin. She made a small cut and watched as a crimson tear rolled down her palm and off her wrist. Jean accepted the knife from her and did the same, wincing when he made a slightly larger cut. Tsuki handed the knife back to Meria and told him, “Sorry you had to do that.”  
Jean watched her. “It’s fine.” He held his hand out and Tsuki carefully placed it in his. They laced their fingers together, palms flat together and in the next moment, both of them jumped a bit a it felt like a spark went through their bodies and all the hair on the backs of their necks stood on end.  
They pulled their hands back and Jean doubtfully asked, “Was that it?”  
They looked at Meria curiously. She smiled, “Your expressions look like about what I expect. I think you did it. Try summoning Amaak.”  
Tsuki nodded and held her hands out to her fox. “Amaak!”  
The fox lifted it’s head and let out a howl before transforming and shooting to Tsuki. Like always, she felt the white metal plates attach to her shoulders and extend out from her back as wings. But unlike last time, there was a wave of emotion that came with it: worry for her safety, fear for what was to come, suspicion for the woman who gave vague answers, determination not to let her down, pride that she was so beautiful and loved and cared for him so much.  
Tsuki’s eyes were trembling in their sockets and tears started racing down her face. She felt everything. Any secret that ever was between them was gone. Suddenly, she and Jean were one in the same. There was now separation of them any longer. A joyful laugh came out through the choke of tears. “Jean… this is amazing. Jean…”   
She looked over at Jean who’s eyes were wide. She was surprised to see that in front of half of his face was what looked like a hologram panel. It glowed with white and blue like the trademark of her slayer powers. He looked down at his hands. “Wow… I get it. I…” He looked up at Tsuki.  
They no longer needed words. His love for her was screaming in her head and she smiled brightly at him. Jean laughed. “I can feel you, too, Tsuki. Your power is… incredible. We’re incredible right now. I feel calm… and confident. I feel you. But I also feel like I’m in two places. But it’s not confusing or jarring… it’s like I’ve just become two separate me’s.”  
“Then the final test.” Meria stated. “Using her power.”


	102. The Offer

Kana laughed without humor. “That’s… a complicated question…”  
“You were glowing red when you pulled me up.” Farlan told her. “You’ve had lethal amounts of blood loss on numerous occasions. Kana… you aren’t human… are you?”  
“Can… we get out of here? Then I’ll answer your questions…” Kana told him.  
Farlan hesitated. But before he could even think negatively, he realized that whatever she was, she had just saved his life, risking her own. Whatever her story turned out to be, it didn’t matter. He nodded his head and helped her up.  
Along the way, Kana had taken off her jacket to wipe off most of the blood that covered her body and then tossed it. She explained to Farlan her story of being a Slayer and that she wasn’t able to heal without her weapon. She left out the facts regarding her being from the future as well. To her relief, he didn’t call her names or judge her. He nodded his head and agreed that he understood it would be hard to explain.  
He also agreed not to tell Isabel or Levi for now.  
As they walked out of the lower district, they happened to spot those exact two. Isabel turned and waved, screaming happily, “Kana-san! You’re okay!”  
Levi’s eyes widened but unlike Isabel, he remained where he was, as though the shock had gotten the better of him.  
Isabel stopped just short of her, her big round, worried eyes scanning over her. She whimpered, “Kana-san…? Are you okay?”  
Kana nodded her head a bit. “Yeah. I’m fine. Sore.” They continued walking until she was close to Levi, his hardened gaze ran over the blood all over her clothes and he gritted his teeth, looking away, as though ashamed of himself. Kana reached out to him, touching his cheek with the back of her hand. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine. Really.”  
His hands were shaking, Kana noticed, and she went to take them but he moved them out of her reach and wrapped them around her. He held her there against his sturdy body for the longest time, a shuddering breath leaving him. “I’m sorry…” Was all he whispered.  
Kana touched his back softly, her gaze softening. “You got all worked up over nothing, Levi. No matter what happens, I will always come back. I promise.” Her hand rested on his middle back, holding herself close to him. Her grip tightened for just a brief moment before her legs went weak under her and she collapsed.  
All three of them shouted her name.

When Kana came to the next morning, Levi and Isabel were both sitting anxiously at the end of the bed. As soon as she opened her eyes and sat up, Isabel let out a squeal of happiness. She wrapped her arms around Kana while Levi scolded, “You’re going to make it worse, Isabel! Knock it off!”  
Isabel nuzzled Kana’s chest, tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy Kana-san is okay…!”  
Kana rested her hand on top of Isabel’s head and sighed. “Sorry to worry you guys.” Isabel made a happy noise, clinging to her.  
Levi’s arm rested behind Kana and he turned his head, kissing her temple. His forehead rested against the side of hers and he sighed. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you from them…”  
Kana smiled and shook her head. “Knock it off, Levi. It wasn’t your fault. I’m fine.”  
Levi sighed heavily and rested his face against her neck. Kana smiled as she rubbed the backs of both of them, trying to relax them. A smile spread her lips. She loved these two so much.

Kana was watching the tea pot when her favorite trio returned. Isabel walked in first, with a huge basket of bread in her hands. “That was so easy.”  
Kana smirked as she tossed the basket down on the table and dropped down. She let out a huge sigh. “But they paid us so much and we got all this food. We’ll be good for a while now.”  
“That’s great.” Kana stated as they all sat at the table. She poured Levi his tea while Farlan and Isabel helped themselves to their own drinks. When Kana finished with the tea pot, she turned back to put it away when she felt a burning sensation up her throat and she started coughing – hard. It had been like this for a while now; since those thugs from the lower district had kidnapped her. Her stomach injury had gotten much worse and in turn…  
Kana pulled her hand away from her mouth, looking at the blood in the palm of her hand. Her eyes narrowed with distaste. She wondered how long she would be able to last. It was obviously getting much worse. Kana gasped when Levi pulled her back from the counter and made her sit down next to him. He pulled a cloth out of his jacket – he had started keeping one on him after her first couple spells – and wiped off her hand and then her lips. He didn’t say anything but she could see the worry in his eyes; reflected also in Isabel’s and Farlan’s.  
After a bit, Farlan asked, “Have you guys noticed there’s been a lot of soldiers hanging around in the marketing area? I thought the military police had been ordered to leave the underground alone?”  
Levi shrugged. “Who cares? It’s not like any of them are good enough to keep up with us with our gear anyway.”  
“I know, but – “ Farlan started until there was a knock at the door. He got up to answer it while Levi pulled Kana closer to him protectively.  
The man at the door asked, “Interested in a job?”  
Farlan stepped aside to let the guy in. He was wearing a dark gray poncho and began talking, “Let me get straight to the point. I am a messenger for a certain main. It seems someone by the name of Erwin Smith intends to capture you and force you to join the Survey Corps.”  
Kana’s eyes widened at the name. She had been melding into this era so well that she had almost forgotten about her link to the future. The people she knew there. Her eyes narrowed. Erwin wanted to force them into the Survey Corps…?  
The man carried on, “Once you’re admitted, I want you to steal some documents from him. And, if you’re able, kill him as well.”  
Levi glared darkly at the man. “So a full-fledged member of society has come all the way down to the slums of the underground to spout nonsense? Has the sun caused something aside from your biological clock to screw up? Who the hell would believe such a ridiculous story?”  
“The reward is money and a place to live in the capital.” He told them quickly.  
Kana’s eyes widened a bit. He was offering them exactly what they wanted most in this world. But she was surprised when Levi so quickly responded with, “This is becoming more and more shady. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything, so hurry up and go back to the surface.”  
The man looked ready to press further, but Farlan stood up. “Wait, Levi.”  
Levi looked at Farlan in shock. He looked a bit scared, but there was determination and hope in his eyes. Farlan turned back to the guy, “I get the gist of what’s going on, but this is all so sudden. There’s no way we’d be able to give you an answer so soon. We’ll give it some thought, okay?”  
“Very well.” The man agreed, turning back to the door. “I’ll give you until tomorrow to give me an answer. No one else is to hear a word of this conversation, understood? If you try anything funny, your friends will be the ones who suffer.” And with that he left.  
Levi’s grip tightened on Kana and he glared at Farlan. “Hey – “ Levi started getting up.  
“Alright!” Farlan shouted suddenly. “We’re gonna spy on him. Let’s find out who that ‘certain man’ is.”  
Isabel asked, “You’re not actually thinking of accepting, are you?”  
Farlan looked down and then mumbled, “Aside from the gold, being able to live in the capital… only somone like a noble or a big name merchant would be able to offer us lives that we could never even imagine.”  
Levi retorted, “Even if we do manage to obtain those documents, his next target will probably be us.”  
“Probably.” Farlan agreed. “We’ll get those documents. But our target is ‘that man’. If we have those documents, we can threaten him with it.”  
“A bunch of low class thugs from the sewer intimidating those pigs?” Levi asked skeptically.  
“This could be important.” Farlan defended. “This is our best chance. You guys… don’t you want to get out from the underground…?”  
Levi sighed and stood up. “Fine. We’ll follow him. We’ll figure out who this guy is. For all we know, he’s spouting lies to begin with.”  
Isabel immediately hopped up and ran to her room to get her own gear. While Farlan did the same, Levi turned to Kana and ordered, “Stay here and stay out of sight.” His eyes narrowed. “That bastard is already threatening us. If we’re caught, we’ll kill him. So you should be safe here.”  
Kana frowned. She wished she had gear as well so she could insist on joining them. But instead she was a good girl and stood up, her hands on her hips. “Promise you won’t be reckless?”  
Levi smirked. “Farlan is the one being reckless right now.”  
“That’s true.” Kana commented. “And… unusual…”  
Isabel trotted out of her room and wrapped her arms around Kana. The beads of her bracelet pressed against her cheek and she giggled, “If this works out, we can all finally live on the surface. Won’t it be great!?”  
Kana smiled and pulled the clingy girl off. “Yes. Fantastic. Now go before he gets too far ahead.”  
Kana watched the three of them leave, but Farlan was the last one out. He looked at her seriously and said, “No matter what, don’t forget your promise, got it?” She nodded her head and shut the door behind them. She promised not to let them die. And she would keep that promise until the end.  
Once they were gone, Kana’s mind began to race a thousand miles an hour. She leaned her back on the door. Erwin Smith was trying to capture them and force them into the Survey Corps. She remembered a long time ago, hearing Petra mention something about Erwin being the one to bring him in. Her fingers clenched into fists. There was no denying it. The events that were happening now were the same events that had happened in the past of her time. If that were the case… then that means those three were going to take the messengers job. And Erwin was going to successfully bring them in to the Survey Corps.  
Kana’s eyes darkened with realization.  
But then… where were Isabel and Farlan in her future? Levi had never mentioned them and she had never seen them. Were they… dead?  
A knot formed in the pit of Kana’s stomach at the thought. She couldn’t imagine the loss of those two. She pressed her hand to her forehead and shook her head. It wasn’t hopeless. They didn’t have to die. She, Leah, Demi, and Tsuki had rewritten a sequence of events and saved so many people from their own deaths. She could change the outcome. She could save them.  
And she would.


	103. Survey Corps

The realization of the what the future held had her distant for the next couple weeks. She tried to keep focused, but her mind was continuously wandering. Was joining the Survey Corps what caused Farlan and Isabel’s death? Were they even, in fact, dead? They had to be. She couldn’t imagine the two of them and Levi having a falling out.  
If that were the case, should she stop them from joining?  
She could always kill Erwin. That would make her feel better, too. She hated that man so much. But he did what he could for humanity. Even sacrificing innocent lives. To her, his mentality was a contradiction. He sacrificed lives to save lives.   
Kana wanted to save all of them. But she had to admit, she was very biased. She’d probably be willing to let others die if it meant saving any of these three. They had become too important to her.  
Over the course of the next few weeks, she had seen all of them looking at her worriedly, wondering what was on her mind, but they had let her be. Today, the three of them had gone on a mission that required their gear, so she went out shopping. She found a shop that had some weapons in a case in front of the window. Her stomach twisted up. For some reason, she was getting a sickening feeling that she’d need one for one reason or another.  
“You have some nerve, walking back to my store wearing the same clothes you stole from me.”  
Kana looked up at a tall man with blonde hair gelled back. She recognized him as the tailor that she had stolen her current outfit from a while back when they hadn’t had any money. She pursed her lips but the guy held up his hand. “Don’t worry about it. You guys took down some thugs here a while back that were causing my sister some trouble. The lower district guys were coming up here and harassing her. When we found out you and your crew took them down, we were thankful.”  
Kana stared skeptically. While she had saved Farlan, she later found out that Isabel and Levi had destroyed the lower district thugs completely. They hadn’t stepped foot outside since that day. She wondered if they were even alive.  
The guy smirked and looked down at the case Kana had been looking into. “Needing a new weapon?”  
Hesitantly, Kana nodded. He asked, “What’re you looking for?”  
She shrugged and her gaze swept over all the options. None of them stuck out at her. But then one did. It was a long curved piece of wood.   
A hand crafted bow.  
Kana asked, “How much do you want for the bow?”  
“I was asking 25 for it, but I’ll give it to you for ten. As a thank you.” The man stated.  
“Listen. I’m not the one that took those creeps down. They captured me and it was Le –“  
“That doesn’t matter.” The man handed her the bow and quiver of arrows.  
Kana handed him some cash, but she gave him more than what he asked for. “Here. Consider the rest of this compensation for the clothes I took. It’s hard enough to survive down here with a decent job. You don’t need someone like me taking what little money you get from your products.”  
“But – “ The guy started to shove the cash back at her but Kana was already running off. It felt nice to do good for someone again. She pulled the quiver over her shoulders and held the bow up. It was strong and a bit difficult to draw. Her eyes narrowed on the string between her fingers. She was suddenly reminded of Leah, who had just awakened her weapon, using it as a bow and her own energy as the arrow. Kana lowered her new weapon.  
How were the girls doing without her? Was Demi able to teach them what they needed to know? Were they safe? She frowned. She felt like she’d abandoned them. Her mind went to Tsuki. Would she be upset that she had accidentally thrown Kana to another time? The poor girl was probably beating herself up over it and desperately trying to swim through time and space to find her. She didn’t want that. Hopefully she’d move on.  
She didn’t see any possible way that Tsuki would get a hold of her powers fast enough to bring her back through time.   
Kana heard a noise over her shoulder and she looked up towards the roof of the cavern. She saw her trio flying through with their gear, but just a bit further behind them, she saw more people using their gear and giving chase. Her eyes narrowed. As they flew overhead, Kana realized that it wasn’t the military police emblems on their ponchos.  
It was the Survey Corps.  
And the one leading the charge was Erwin himself.  
Her eyes narrowed. She had to stop them. But as she ran, her steps slowed and faltered. But was it really what she needed to do? To stop humanity’s strongest soldier from joining the survey corps? What would they be without him? What impact would his absence in the future cause for other soldiers and the military itself? What would happen if she changed the future?  
Doubt filled Kana’s mind, consuming her with every step she took. What was she supposed to do? Was the lives of Farlan and Isabel worth whatever would come of the future? What if she caused something worse to happen? What if she couldn’t change anything?  
What if this was all destined to happen?  
She shook her head, running faster and faster with each passing moment. Her feet felt light as she drew her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver. The soldiers were growing distant and it was becoming harder for her to see them. She kicked herself up onto an onning and then on up onto the roof of a building. She sprinted with all of her strength, determined to keep the Survey Corp bastards within sight. Finally, she was starting to gain ground, in time to see Isabel, Farlan, and Levi all take off in separate directions. The front two, one of which she knew was Erwin, followed centrally after Levi while the rest of them split off after Isabel and Farlan.  
Kana narrowed her eyes. She knew that Levi could handle himself. So she bolted to her right, following her fellow red-head. Two people were closing in on Isabel, despite how expertly she darted around through the buildings. Never before had Kana been so thankful for her speed on foot. She was quickly catching up to the two soldiers who were trying take the small girl down. The nearest one raised a bladeless trigger as she flew towards Isabel and her target was clearly to knock the girl out.  
Kana’s bow was set and ready to let fly. Her eyes darkened as she lined the arrow up with her target. Releasing the string, the projectile flew on a dead straight path, hitting the target perfectly. The metal head broke through the left gas tank of the Survey Corps soldier.   
The female assailant let out a shriek as her gear spiraled out of control, sending her straight down into the ground. But Kana didn’t miss a beat. She lept off the rooftop and, pulling out a small knife, she slammed the blade down into the hand of the male that was also after Isabel. They both dropped down to the next rooftop.  
Isabel looked over at Kana with a sudden panic. “Kana-san!?”  
Kana stood up straight, her heel digging into the man’s throat. Another couple soldiers flew after Isabel. Her gaze darkened and she started to run after her, but Isabel shouted for her to stop. She said, “Go help big brother! The leader guys went after him!”  
Kana gritted her teeth and looked back over her shoulder. She had barely seen Erwin in battle. Was he any good with his gear? Reluctantly, she turned and ran off the other way, desperately searching for the other two crew members.  
After a while, she was making her way down a shallow alley between two housing structures when she heard the familiar clink of a hook locking into a brick wall. She looked up and saw Levi fly overhead and through a window. Gasping, she jumped over a railing and used it to get up onto the ledge of the next house, running across the roof and to hopefully the other side where Levi was coming out at. It was amazing to her, that he was such an expert with his gear before he even joined the Survey Corps.  
When she got to the highest roof, she looked down, seeing Levi casually walking along. Her eyes narrowed. No one was perusing him. Had he managed to lose Erwin? She found it hard to believe that the Commander she knew so well would give up as easily as this. No. There was something else going on. She started to open her mouth to say shout to him when both of them looked at the same thing. A window was open and there was a dark, muddied foot print on the sill.  
Levi spun around just in time to be tackled by – Mike!? – and backed up several steps. Levi had blocked the attack from the trigger hilt with his arm and swung his other around, knocking Mike over onto his back. Her eyes widened with admiration. He literally just flipped someone twice his size. The strength in that tiny body of his was unreal. He looked around.  
Where was Erwin?  
Kana got to her feet, moving to the edge of the roof as Levi turn the opposite way, using his gear to real himself up to the next roof. But then they both heard the noise of the gas erupting from the tank of gear. Erwin was flying down from the ceiling, heading straight for the wire Levi was using to elevate himself. Kana snarled and shouted for him. She was off the roof in a moment, to stop Erwin’s strike.  
Erwin successfully slice through the cord, sending Levi flying into a brick wall. Kana heard the painful impact, but it didn’t stop her from spinning in the air and landing a knee straight to the unsuspecting Erwin’s face. He twisted his body around, getting a good look at her face.  
Kana smirked devilishly. She felt such an immense amount of joy from the feel of her knee connecting with Erwin’s face. For so long, she had wanted to land a hit to the bastard, and now she finally got it.  
But a knowing smirk spread on her face. Ah. No wonder he didn’t like her in the future. She had literally busted his face in the past and didn’t know it. Flipping, she landed awkwardly on the roof and watched Erwin tumble to the ground.  
Levi rolled over from where he’d landed, seeing Erwin on the ground as well. He looked up as Kana jumped down. His eyes widened and he sharply hissed, “What the fuck are you doing here?”  
Kana glared back at him. “You have a horde of Survey Corps members after you, so I thought you could use a hand.” She gasped when he grabbed her suddenly and pulled her back as he went for a charging Mike’s throat with his fist. Mike blocked, but Levi landed a solid kick to his stomach, toppling the soldier over again. But he turned just in time for Erwin to go for him with a blade. Kana raised her arm to defend and strike, but Levi yanked her back further, pulling out a small knife and able to tip the long sword out of Erwin’s hand and flying to the ground.  
With them distracted for a moment, Levi pushed Kana back and ordered, “Get out of here. If they hit you, your life will be in danger.”  
Kana’s brows furrowed. Even in the middle of a mess like this, he was still concerning himself with her health. She opened her mouth when they heard shouting. A couple soldiers joined the rest of them, but they had a protesting Isabel and a compliant Farlan in their hold. Isabel was screaming and kicking, “Let me go you little – “  
“Don’t waste your energy Isabel.” Farlan ordered her, but his gaze went to Kana. His eyes narrowed, as though telling her to get them out of this mess.  
The woman gripping Isabel asked Erwin, “Are you alright?”  
Erwin nodded, “I’m fine. Good work with capturing both of them.” He turned to Levi and growled, “Now don’t make this any harder. We’ve already caught two of you.” As Mike held up a couple more pairs of handcuffs, he said, “Let’s do this nice and easy.”  
Levi shifted, keeping himself between Erwin and Kana. His eyes were narrowed darkly as he growled, “Over my dead body.”  
Erwin looked over at Isabel and Farlan. “What about the dead bodies of your friends? Are they up for offer, too?”  
Kana snarled, “You damn – “  
Levi put his arm up, silencing her. He calmly snapped at the Commander, “Leave this one alone.” Levi ordered, referring to Kana. “She’s not involved with us, she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”  
Kana’s eyes widened as she looked at him. She wanted to open her mouth and protest, but if he had some kind of plan to get them out of this mess, then her being injured might hamper that plan. So she zipped her lips and looked back at Erwin.  
His eyes narrowed. “We’ll let her go if you cooperate with us.”

Shortly, they had all of them in cuffs and on their knees. Kana was glaring at the Commander from her place beside Levi, opposite of Isabel and Farlan. Was this how it had really happened? Erwin had forced them into the Survey Corps? How would this have gone down differently if she hadn’t of come back to the past? Would they have escaped Erwin? What if she would have stayed with Isabel and the two of them ganged up on them while they were focusing on Levi?  
What if she wasn’t injured and could actually help them?   
Despite the questions flying through her mind, it wasn’t helping. Doubting and questioning herself now wouldn’t fix what was already done. She had to focus on her end goal. Keeping Isabel and Farlan alive. No matter what.  
“I’m going to ask you a few questions. First, where did you obtain these?” Erwin demanded.  
Kana gazed at Levi, seeing that he looked at her, a bit of concern swirling into his silver eyes, but when his gaze went back to Erwin, it was dark and full of nothing but hatred.  
When he didn’t get an answer, Erwin tried again, “Your 3D maneuver gear skills are also remarkable. Where did you learn how to do that?” Again, all of them remained silent. Frustrated, Erwin asked Levi, “You are the leader, correct? Have you ever received military training?”  
The murderous gaze Levi gave Erwin made even Kana’s skin crawl. Her captain was quickly losing his patience. But Erwin grinned in response to this look of malice and said, “Your face is telling me that you’re plotting how best to kill us and escape. Right? If possible, I didn’t want to be too rough, but…” The Commander’s gaze went to Mike who nodded.  
He grabbed a hold of Levi’s hair, jerking his head back before slamming it straight into the ground. Kana’s eyes widened with hatred and without even thinking, she rolled onto her cuffed hands and kicked up, landing her heel right into Mike’s jaw, sending the massive man down to one knee. He grabbed her ankle with his free hand and twisted her leg around, pushing it down and away from him.  
Kana let out a hiss of pain and Levi snarled from the puddle of dirty water he was pinned in, “Fucking let her go… now!”  
But Erwin’s dark voice cut them all off, “Let me ask you one more time…Where did you learn 3D maneuvers?”  
Levi turned his hate-filled gaze on Erwin now. His teeth were gritted tight and his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles were turning white. If they weren’t all bound, she was sure that Erwin would be a dead man. And the Survey Corps would be without their Commander and their Captain in a heartbeat.  
Isabel cut in, “We didn’t learn from anyone! Get off your high horse, mister public servant!”  
Farlan added, glaring at Erwin as well, “We picked up these skills in order to survive in this dump. Someone like you, who doesn’t know the taste of sewer water, would never understand.”  
Erwin ignored them and turned his attention back to Levi. “My name is Erwin Smith. What is yours?”  
When Levi failed to immediately answer, once again, Mike shoved his face back into the muddied water. Kana’s voice came out as an animalistic snarl at Mike, “If you don’t fucking quit I’ll rip out your jugular and feed it back to you after kicking every last fucking tooth out of your damn mouth!”  
Erwin snapped at her, “Calm down. This doesn’t concern you.” His voice was calm and cold, but Kana was satisfied by the formation of a purple red bruise on his cheek near his mouth and nose.  
Mike pulled Levi’s face back up, but he was coughing and choking on the water. Kana felt every muscle in her body twitch with rage. She jerked her hands against the cuffs around her wrist and the wooden block cuff broke just enough she could slip her hands out. Within a second, she shot up, ringing her arm around Mike’s neck and slammed him down into the ground. She raised her fist, going to punch him in the throat, hard enough to kill him, when he flipped her onto her back and put his hand on her throat.  
Erwin, unaffected by the scene before him, calmly told Levi, “I admire your spirit, but if you keep it up, we’ll get your comrades involved as well.”  
Levi’s gaze was back on Kana who was coughing and gasping under the pressure of Mike’s hand on her throat. Through the coughs, she could feel a liquid bubbling up in her throat. It was hot and she knew exactly what it was, just like all the other times.  
Levi turned back to glare at Erwin and curse him.  
Erwin shortly demanded, “Your name?”  
Reluctantly, and through gnashed teeth, Levi answered with his name.  
Erwin smiled with triumph at the broken man before him. He knelt down to Levi’s height and asked, “Won’t you strike a deal with me?”  
“A deal?” Levi repeated.  
Erwin answered with, “I won’t ask what crimes you’ve committed. In return, you’ll lend me your strength. Join the Survey Corps.”  
Levi’s gaze changed from malice to one of wonder and possibility. Kana snarled, trying to get her leg up under Mike to get him off of her. “Don’t do it!” Kana screamed. “Erwin you fucking bastard! Tell them how terrible the titans are! Tell them how many people fucking die going out beyond those walls! You’d fucking trade their lives without hesitating just because they’re strong! You cold hearted – “  
Levi cut her off, asking Erwin, “And if I refuse?”  
“I’ll turn you in to the military police.” Erwin answered, but his gaze was on Kana. How did someone like her know what it was like to face the titans. The cloudiness in those red eyes said that she’d seen her fair share of death and disaster caused by those monsters. How did someone from the underground know something like that? “In the first place, considering all the crimes on your record, you getting off easy is out of the question. However, your friends won’t be able to hope for decent treatment, either. Choos whichever you prefer.”  
Kana narrowed her eyes. She could tell that Erwin was already picking at Levi’s weakness – his concern for his comrades. Damn him. Damn how fucking clever he was. Damn that fucking bastard!  
Levi’s dark gaze went over to Farlan, where a sword was held to his neck. Kana remembered the offer they had been given to kill Erwin. They were really going for it. She could see it from the look that passed between them. Kana gritted her teeth. She couldn’t stop them. They wanted out of this underground; and that’s what they were going to do.  
With yet another reluctant sigh, Levi lifted his head, and said, “Fine. I’ll take the deal. I’ll join the Survey Corps.”  
Kana hissed in protest but she let out a noise when Mike finally released her and stood up. Erwin looked at Farlan and Isabel. “All of you will be joining.”  
Levi’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Kana isn’t joining. She’s not going to be involved in something so dangerous.”  
Erwin’s brows furrowed as the violent red head sat up and glared at him as well. “We can’t take a non soldier with us. If she isn’t joining, then she remains down here.”  
“Fine.” Levi snapped.  
Kana’s eyes widened. “Levi – “  
He hushed her with a sharp glare.

Erwin and Mike had gone to make preparations while the other guards were watching them before they would be taken up to the surface. Kana gripped Levi’s sleeve tightly and growled, “Why did you do that? I’m going with you guys.”  
Levi glared at her. “No you’re not. It’s been almost a year and that wound hasn’t healed one bit. I’m not letting you join the military branch with the highest death rate. When we get living arrangements fixed up there, we’ll come back for you, alright?”  
Kana shook her head, snarling, “No! It’s not alright!” Her voice was quivering. “I won’t let you guys go up there without me! I – “ She gasped when he roughly slammed his arm on the rock beside her head and moved closer to her.  
“Will you please, just do this for me?” Levi begged under his breath. “I couldn’t handle worrying about you if you were out in titan territory with us. Kana. Please, it will help me if I know you’re not in harms way.”  
Kana felt her stomach twisting with fear and sadness and she looked down, gripping his shirt. She hoarsely asked, “And what about you? It’s not okay for me to make you worry, but you can worry me all you want? I don’t even know how long it will take for you to come back. Levi… don’t do this to me…”  
He touched his hand to the back of her head and pulled it forward, kissing her forehead tenderly. His lips were as delicate as a feather and it made her heart sputter out of control. He lowered his head, resting his cheek against her temple and softly whispered, “I know… I’m not being fair…”  
Kana sniffled and whimpered, “You’re a jerk. And you’re selfish. And you’re a hypocrite. And unreasonable and… and…”  
Levi pulled her in close, holding her softly against his body. She felt so brittle all of a sudden and his eyes darkened. Is this what she was reduced to, at the thought of being away from him? Did his presence really mean so much to her? He ran his hand through her crimson hair and whispered, “Go back to the base, Kana. And only leave to get food. When we can, we’ll return and get you supplies and money to get you by as long as possible.”  
Her grip tightened on his shirt even more. She growled through her tears, “Why are you so mean to me?”  
Almost inaudibly, against her ear, he whispered, “Because I love you, Kana.” His gaze drifted across the clearing where a carriage was being rolled up. He saw that the blonde soldier, whom he despised more than anyone right now, was watching the two of them, his eyes bristling with curiosity. Levi’s grip tightened on Kana. The more distance between the two of them, the better.  
Kana’s shoulders shook with sobs. “I love you, too, you stupid jerk…”  
“Hey now.” Levi cooed. “You’re the stupid one. That’s why you’re staying here.”


	104. It Can be Done

Tsuki reluctantly pulled her gaze away from Jean. “Okay yeah.” She looked around and then asked, “You… just want me to…try to open up a portal?”  
Meria nodded her head. “Go ahead.”  
“But if I mess up again… with everyone around…” Tsuki mumbled.  
“I’m here.” Meria assured. “You don’t need to be concerned. I will be able to shut you down immediately.”  
Tsuki still seemed unsure but she nodded her head. “Okay.” Taking a deep breath, she turned towards the archway since it was more out of the way of everyone else. Closing her eyes, she concencrated on a single spot, trying to remember how to activate just the portal. With her scepter, she’d been able to concentrate a flow of energy, but it wasn’t related particularly to time.  
Meanwhile, Jean stood awkwardly a few feet back from her and asked Meria, “So uh… is there anything I need to do or…?”  
Meria shook her head. “No. Mostly you won’t actually do anything when it comes to the Slayer, however, in crucial moments you can actual control their movements. Hopefully you shouldn’t have to, but its helpful in a situation where you can see something from your own body that you can’t from theirs.”  
Jean shook his head quickly. “I wouldn’t ever want to do that.”  
Meria giggled. “That’s easy enough to say now, but you never know when things will change.”  
Tsuki continued concentrating her power and a white energy began to flow into a central spot, but it didn’t feel like time was really moving with it. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening except collecting her energy up. She frowned and released her energy. Amaak, responding to her will even before she asked for it, deformed from her armor and changed into the scepter and dropped into her hands.  
Again, Tsuki held it out, but the same thing happened.  
Meria stepped up to Tsuki. “Your heart is in the right place… but it looks like you’re not moving time. Are you giving commands?”  
“Uhm…” Tsuki whispered.  
“Have you not figured out how to trigger your power?”  
Tsuki shook her head. “In the fight against Reiner… it seemed to just happen automatically…”  
Meria put her hand to her lips. “It could be that you and Amaak were in such sync because of the adrenalin that he was interpreting your commands without receiving them. He was probably guiding your powers at that point. In this case, you need to be in control. When you sent Kana back, what exactly did you do?”  
Tsuki put her fingers to her head and concentrated. In that same moment, everything around them began to shift and change. All of them now had a blue aura around them and they were floating in the air above the scene where Tsuki sent Kana back.  
Hanji started screaming. “Wowweee! This is so cool! Tsuki!”  
Leah looked at the blue Slayer and asked, “Can you not just turn back to time to right before you sent her away? Wouldn’t that be easier?”  
“No.” Meria sternly retorted. “Time is a very delicate power. You cannot create an infinite loop. By sending Kana back to a time that wasn’t hers. There would then be 2 of her in that time. If you don’t bring her back, the two timelines will start to overlap and eventually attempt to reconstruct themselves. I don’t know how long Kana will have been in the timeline that we dropped her in, but I’m sure eventually things would start to get messy.”  
Hanji and Levi glanced at each other. Levi felt his hands clenched. Was that… the reason for that catastrophe? Because they took too long to bring her back?  
Hanji told Meria. “She was there for over a year.”  
Meria’s frown deepened. “Yeah. I think that’s far too long. But there’s nothing we can do about it now.”  
Armin stepped forward. “Meria, I know that you said you hadn’t encountered this before, but… do you think there’s a way to change the past? Or do you think it’s set the way it is? What happens if we modify things? Will… our time change?”  
Meria shook her head. “I just don’t know.” She turned to Hanji and Levi. “If something starts to seem off about your memories, let me know. Time is dangerous territory…”  
Levi looked away but Hanji nodded. “We will.”  
They looked back at the scene below them. “Now.” Meria continued. “Tsuki, you’ve turned us into some astral form in another time… or you’ve made the other time astral for us, I don’t know. But can you play it?”  
“I… don’t know…I…” Just as Tsuki started to explain, the scene began to play out. She watched intensely.  
Astral Tsuki shouted, “I’m done with you two fighting all the time. I don’t know what the both of you have against each other, but enough is enough. So why don’t you just both apologize to each other and then move on! You both said yesterday that you want to be friends, so what is keeping you from doing that?”  
“What are we looking for?” Levi asked.  
Meria answered, “We want to see exactly what Tsuki did the moment her power triggered.”  
Astral Demi grumbled, “I just don’t appreciate her jumping to conclusions is all. I’m not trying to start a fight.”  
Astral Kana shouted, “You jumped to conclusions when you called me a traitor.”  
Demi looked up at Kana’s words. With everything going on, she’d almost forgotten about the two of them fighting. About the reason they were fighting. But since Kana left, that awful feeling of dread had vanished. When her gaze met Meria though, she saw nothing but suspicion in her eyes. She couldn’t figure out what this woman wanted or what she was trying to accomplish – but she didn’t like it.  
Astral Demi snarled, “If you weren’t being so –“  
Astral Tsuki shouted, “BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND GO BACK TO BEING FRIENDS!!”  
Meria’s eyes widened when she saw a crack form in the air right next to where Kana was standing. “There!”  
Tsuki stopped the scene and stared at herself. She didn’t notice anything different that she was doing from now. She put her knuckle to her lips and studied for several minutes. When she came up with nothing, she looked at Meria. “What is – “ She saw a big grin on the womans’ lips so she knew she had it figured out. “I don’t see it.”  
“It’s not something to see.” Meria stated. “It’s so obvious it’s painful.”  
“What is it?” Tsuki asked.  
Meria fanned her hand out. “It needs a vocal command. Amaak is responding to your focus of power, but you have to say what you want him to do. You activated your power accidentally because you shouted “go back” while you were concentrating so hard on Kana.”  
Tsuki’s eyes widened. Was it really that easy?  
The startled realization shook her so much that the projection vanished around them and they returned to the slab where they had been before. She couln’t take her eyes off Meria. Was that really the piece she was messing up this whole time?  
She was super eager now. She turned back to the arch way.  
Meria wrapped her arms around her and pulled her back a couple steps. She giggled and stated, “Take it easy. Take a breath. Focus. Don’t get too worked up.”  
Tsuki nodded and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. Finally, with her hands held out, she created the same energy portal as before, the bright light shimmering around them. Letting out a slow breath, she commanded, “Go back.”  
The warp in front of her opened up with what looked like a moving picture. But she could see inside the picture that trees were shrinking, leaves falling up to them instead of down with the seasons. She watched the land shift backwards, as though undoing what time and wind had done. Her eyes were wide. “It’s working.”  
Above them, clouds began circling, rain and lightning coming down around them.  
Meria held her hand up over her eyes. “Yes, but playing with time does affect our world as well.” She reached out and touched her other hand to Tsuki’s and gently ordered, “Close the warp. There’s more you’ll have to do.”  
Tsuki closed it but Leah asked, “What else!? She was moving time!”  
Meria explained, “The tricky part now is going to be locating Kana. She can do it, but she’ll have to hone in on a time, as well as a place in that time to link to in order to grab her.”  
“Wow… this is more complicated that expected…” Armin stated. “But it can be done, then…”  
Meria nodded. “Yes it can.”


	105. On the Surface

Within hours of Erwin taking her crew away, Kana was packed up and pulling her clothes on. She yanked on her usual red tank top and black shorts. It made her laugh that any of them thought she would actually stay down here while they were up there fighting titans. She packed all the medical supplies she could fit and headed out. The bag was heavy on her shoulders, but it didn’t matter to her. She would defend all of them, even if it cost her life.  
On her way, she crossed through the middle district, but she was stopped by the same young man whom she bought the bow from. He dipped his head respectfully and asked, “How do you like it? Have you used it yet?”  
Kana glanced at the quiver and bow strapped to her back. She gave him a smile and said, “Yeah. It came in really handy this morning, right after I got it from you. Funny how I got it right in time, huh?” She couldn’t help laughing.  
The man smiled. “Sounds like you were destined for things to work out.”  
“Destiny, huh? You think such a thing exists?” Kana asked him.  
“I don’t know. Things seem to work out too well sometimes. I don’t think it’d be impossible for it to exist.” The man explained. “Haven’t you ever had something happen… too conveniently? Doesn’t it make you speculate the possibilities?”  
Kana’s mind immediately went to the fact that Tsuki had sent her through time and straight to Levi. It seemed… impossible. But it had happened. Or maybe, it was the opposite. Maybe it was because Levi recognized her from the past that he recruited her to the Survey Corps and put her in the position to even be sent to the past. It seemed like some crazy, endless cycle, but something definitely had a hand in it.  
Maybe it was destiny.  
Kana shrugged off his question. “I guess it is possible. But… I gotta go.” She started walking around him.  
He called after her, “In a hurry?”  
“Yeah. I’m gonna go see just what my destiny has in store for me.” Kana answered, her gaze narrowing on the path ahead of her.

When she got to the surface, Kana stopped, wincing as the sun beat down heavily in her face. The small tunnel was the only usable passage way from the underground, to the capital. It had been so long since she’d been on the surface, wandering around. But she could tell the underground had left its mark on her. Everyone around her was glaring at her with distaste. She avoided glaring back at them as she made her way to the headquarters.  
The first priority on her list was to get her own set of maneuver gear. She imaged that the head quarters would also be where they took Levi and the others. After a while of walking, she finally saw the great building and she made her way into an alley so she could follow some soldiers. She sat on a ledge, watching who came and went for several hours. Finally she had a perfect chance in which she could slip in and grab her gear.  
In all this time, the area hadn’t changed much. All of the stock, belts, and supplies were in the same places. She quickly moved through getting her belts on. She winced, the belts pinching her skin on her legs as she tightened them up. She strapped the final belt over her chest and then pulled her poncho on over the top.  
By the time she had the gear all set and everything fixated on herself, she headed out. It was evening, so she had lost her light to guide her way. She paused when she stepped out, and stared up at the stars. It was so weird to see them again. It had been so long since she was in view of the sky during the evening. She would never take the stars for granted again.

“Whoa, this is beautiful.” Isabel stated, dropping down on the ledge with Levi and Farlan.  
Chuckling, Farlan added, “You’re keeping all this to yourself? That’s so unfair.”  
Levi glared over his shoulder at them. “It’s because you two are so noisy, I can’t even kill anything quietly with you guys around.”  
Farlan frowned, but Isabel handed out so alcohol she’d gotten her hands on. For a while, they sat there, gazing up at the stars. Isabel found herself fiddling with the red bracelet on her wrist. “I wish they would have let Kana-san come with us. I know it would be too dangerous for her to be in the Survey Corps with us, but they could have at least let her come up to the surface with us.”  
Levi shrugged his shoulders. “So she could be scrutinized by the other personnel? For now, she’s better off staying down there.”  
Isabel puffed her cheeks. “Don’t you miss her, brother?”  
Levi glared at her and then sighed. “Of course I do.” His gaze traveled down to the drink beside his hand on the ledge. He’d honestly gotten so used to having her around, it felt foreign for her to be away. He didn’t like the feeling that her absence left in his chest.  
An awkward silence was left in the wake of Isabel’s jeering. After a time, she commented, “They say stars actually go round and round in the sky, is that true?”  
“Seems like it.” Farlan answered.  
Isabel questioned, “Compared to the place you came from, Levi, which one’s prettier?”  
Levi kept his eyes turned up towards the stars. “Who knows…it’s been a while since I last looked up at the sky like this…”  
After a while, they became aware of a noise from below where they were sitting. A hook shot up, sinking into the brick beside Farlan. He shifted and jumped up, but Levi shot to his feet, readying the knife that was in his hands already. A figure, dressed in a black poncho flew up in front of them, spreading their arms around and wrapping them around Levi.  
He’d started to raise his knife when he was aware of the familiar hold around his torso and subtle scent that wavered into his nostrils. The pleasant, calming smell of fresh flowers in the morning sun. He gasped, letting himself stumble back. He grabbed the back of the hood covering the person’s face and yanked it down, glaring at Kana who had a bright smile on her lips. She giggled, “I found you.”  
Levi snarled, “Stupid! Don’t lunge at me suddenly while dressed like that! I could have – “  
Kana’s lips curled upward in a smile. “I knew you’d figure out it was me.”  
Farlan gasped, “K-Kana?”  
Isabel jumped up and rushed over, pulling her off of Levi and squealing excitedly, “Kana-san! I’m so glad, but why are you here?”  
Kana made a face and arched a brow. “Come on. Did you guys really think you could get rid of me that easily?”  
Levi stood and dusted himself off, glaring at her. “What are you going to do when they see you? We’ll be under suspicion and they’ll throw you back in the underground – if you’re lucky. Knowing that bastard, Erwin, he’ll – “  
Kana flicked her hand. “As if I’ll get caught. Come on now, I’m the master of stealth.”  
Levi glared at her, but he sighed heavily, realizing he wasn’t going to win. “Fine. But the second they start getting suspicious of you, you’re going back until we’re cleared. Got it?”  
Kana teased, “Yes Captain, sir.”

The next morning, they had the trio on stage in front of all the soldiers for introductions. Isabel, of course, was looking excited and determined while her counterparts, Farlan, looked uneasy, and Levi looked bored and annoyed – as she expected. Kana was sitting on the roof of the nearest building, watching them. She was behind the crowd so the only one she took the risk of being spied by was the commander – who come to find out in this era was not Erwin.  
She was shocked to realize that it was Keith Shardis, whom she had harassed her first day as a trainee. Why had he stepped down as commander and let Erwin take his place? This was only six years ago…  
When Shardis began speaking, she snuck a little closer to the edge so she could listen.  
“From now on, these three will fight along side of you.” To the trio, he ordered, “Now you three, introduce yourselves to your fellow soldiers.”  
Levi’s gaze swept over the crowd. Kana followed it for the most part, but she paused when she saw a familiar brunette with glasses. Her eyes widened in surprise. Was that Hanji-san!? An inner squeal nearly escaped but she held it back. She curiously watched Levi to see if he would actually submit to an order, or if he would cause trouble right from the get-go. After giving Erwin a dark glare, who returned the intense gaze, he reluctantly grumbled to the crowd of soldiers, “Levi.”  
Kana felt her skin prickle with happiness. The glare he gave, despite most of the crowd looking uneasy and shifting away from it, she couldn’t help but think was just so damn cute. She didn’t care what anyone else thought, she found all of his expressions adorable. Especially considering how small he was. But she would never tell him that to his face. Despite him being tiny, she knew that meant nothing for his strength.  
Contradicting the leader of the trio completely, Isabel cheerfully announced, “My name is Isabel Magnolia! Nice to meet you!” It was funny how much her spunky and wild attitude contradicted Levi’s in every way. It was only natural that those two would have found each other. They were like two halves of a whole.  
And then there was Farlan. Who still had more brains than both of them. “Farlan Church. Please to meet you.” He told them, feigning politeness.  
The entirety of the crowd appeared not to know how to react to them. She could see from the shifting weight and uncomfortable postures that word must have already spread about their stature from the underground. It pissed her off how quick people were to judge.  
Shardis went on to announce, “They will stay in Fragon’s squad. Fragon, take care of them.”  
A blond towards the middle of the group shrieked in shock, “In my squad?”  
Kana’s eyes narrowed. She could hear the accusation in his tone. She lay down on the edge of the roof, her chin on one arm and the other hanging off as she listened. She noticed Levi’s attention shift towards her for just a brief moment before going right back to the soldiers. He’d noticed her, but didn’t want to direct attention toward her.  
“Do you object?” Shardis demanded sharply. Kana smiled a bit. She should really apologize to Shardis in her time. But the smile disappeared at the end of that thought. She wasn’t going back to her time. At this point, she was sure there was no way that Tsuki was able to bring her back. She was stuck here.  
“No I just thought they would join Erwin’s squad.” Fragon protested.  
A knot formed in Kana’s throat. Then if her theory was correct and times were unfolding just as they did in her present time…  
“Captain Erwin is working on a new formation for the next expedition. He entrusted the new recruits to you. You will now be responsible for their training. Is that understood?”  
…Where was this version of herself?  
Kana sat up, her heart starting to race. There should be a six years younger version of herself somewhere in this time. Which means six years from now, that version of her would be going through what she is now. But then… what happens to her?  
Kana pressed her hand to her injury and her eyes narrowed. How could she stop Isabel and Farlan’s death…  
“Yes!” Fragon yelled. “Understood!”  
…If she couldn’t stop her own?  
“That’s all.” Shardis explained, dismissing the soldiers, “Each squad should provide a standard report.”  
As the soldiers started to shuffle about and follow their leaders, she ducked down off the roof top and scurried to the shadows before being seen. But in the shifting of people and trying to stay out of the line of sight, she lost track of her trio.  
Gritting her teeth, she followed the general swarm of soldiers to a rather large building. She waited until the coast of was clear before slipping up to the door. The post all the wall stated that this was the soldiers’ barracks. Fantastic. So this is where they’d be in the evening. That was easy. She gasped and jumped into the brush when she heard the chatter of a couple soldiers just before they walked through the front door. They made their way on down the sidewalk and Kana slid in through the front door before it shut.  
There were a lot of people so it was hard to avoid all of them. A couple times, a soldier made a double take as she dove into the shadows or around a corner, but so far, none had become aware of her presence. She finally made it to the hallways that led to the soldiers rooms. Each one had a marker with the names of the soldiers staying in that room. After what seemed like forever, she found one that had Farlan’s name on it. She puffed her cheek. She didn’t see Levi’s. She started to move on when she stopped at the name just under Farlans. It didn’t have a last name marked. Her brows furrowed. “Rivialle?”   
It took her several moments but she realized that the name could also be read as ‘Levi’. Did he just go by that name because it was easier to say? She made a mental note to herself to ask him later, but she quickly slipped into the room before someone happened to walk down the hall. She nearly let out a squeak when the trio and Fragon were right inside. She darted to a side of one of the unmade beds and listened to them talk. No one else was in the room but them and for that, she was thankful.  
Fragon explained, “This is your room.”  
“There sure are a lot of beds.” Farlan explained, walking along.  
A happy Isabel squealed, “Yay! Does that mean we live together?”  
“Woman live separately.” Fragon told her without so much as a glance.  
Isabel pouted, “But I’m fine here!”  
Farlan scolded, “Don’t argue, Isabel.”  
“Why are you so boring?”  
“Don’t call me that!”  
Fragon stopped at the last bed in the corner. Kana smiled when she realized it was right next to two windows. Perfect! She would just have to mark one and it would make for an easier entrance and escape. She ducked when Fragon turned around and stated, “You will sleep here.”  
She noticed Levi visibly stiffen and walk slowly up to the bed. He ran his hand along the board and the most horror-filled expression she had ever seen crossed his face. She nearly let out a giggle.  
Fragon rolled his eyes and commented, “You lived in the underground sewers so much that you’re probably used to the dirt. But here you have cleanliness and order.”  
Kana’s eyes darkened with hatred at the same time Levi snapped back at him, “What did you say?” When Fragon only glared, Levi marched up to him and snarled, “You bastard! What did you say!?”  
Fragon took an instinctive step back and hissed back, “What? Don’t you dare talk to an outranking officer that way you filthy piece of trash!”  
Kana felt her chest tighten and she was thankful when Farlan jumped in between the two soldiers. Levi stopped his advancement, but Kana wasn’t so sure she could let that talk go. She’d become so protective of Levi, she would not let someone talk to him that way and get away with it. Again, she made a mental note.  
“Don’t worry, Captain! We’ll keep the place nice and clean!” Farlan told Fragon, trying to give him a salute, but failing miserably. His hand was backward and not over his heart… at all.  
Gritting his teeth, Fragon turned away and snapped, “Once you finish unpacking, go to the training grounds! We’ll start by teaching Church the correct salute.”  
As he stormed by, Kana got a good look at his face so she could remember it later. She slipped under the bed as he passed so he wouldn’t see her. She heard Isabel giggling and teasing Farlan about his terrible salute until he snapped at Levi.  
“I told you not to fight!” Farlan glared at him, but Levi wasn’t even looking at him. He was wiping his dirty hand off with the cloth he kept on him.   
He turned and started at the sheets while he asked, “Did you not hear what he called us?”  
“Well… senior officers will treat you poorly if you behave like that.” Farlan explained while Isabel climbed up to the top bunk.  
Angrily, Levi threw the sheets back down. “They call this cleaning? I treated him like he was with me, and if he continues to behave that way, he will receive no salute from me.”  
Farlan asked him, “Do you remember why we’re here?”  
“I remember.” Levi retorted.  
“In that case, we can’t attract attention to ourselves. We must get those documents!” Farlan informed him.  
“That’s annoying…” Levi grumbled.  
“Would you lighten up?” Kana asked as she unfolded herself from under the bed, making all of them jump with surprise. “I swear, you’re more uptight about dirt comments than anything else.”  
Levi glared at her and asked, “Isn’t it a little risky for you to be here?”  
Kana shrugged. “No one else is in the room.” She explained, pulling a knife out of her pocket and going to the window. She put a little mark on the outside sill so she’d know what window to climb into later.  
Meanwhile, Isabel leaned off the top bunk in front of Farlan and explained, “Don’t worry! We will handle all who try to stop us, just like we did in the underground.”  
“Be quiet.” Farlan seethed. “It’s best to remain silent here.”  
Kana ducked down under the sill when a soldier walked by outside. This was going to be very tricky…  
Isabel growled, “Do you think I’m stupid?”  
“What’s 18+22?”  
Isabel started to count on her fingers when Levi knocked her on the side of the head, “It’s forty, stupid.”  
Isabel whined, “Even brother calls me stupid.”  
Kana laughed at her. “Don’t take offense. He calls every one stupid.”  
Levi glared down at Kana, glancing out the window when he saw more soldiers walking by. He told her, “I thought we’d agreed that you stay out of sight. Not go wandering straight into the heart of soldier territory. It’s just a matter of time before you get caught.”  
Kana leaned her back against the wall and assured him, “I’ll be fine. Stop worrying. I think you just need to focus on making friends with the other soldiers. I’ll handle the staying hidden part.”  
Levi looked as though he wanted to protest more, but he looked away and changed subjects, “Okay Farlan. In your plan, we had to join Blondie’s squad.”  
Farlan huffed, “Well, not everything goes as planned. Now that we have entered the Survey Corps, we need to complete out plan before the expedition.”  
Levi’s hand clenched into a fist. “And then we destroy it.”  
Kana’s brows arched. It was so weird hearing her future captain talking about destroying the Survey Corps. Or Erwin. In her time, he was completely loyal to them both. She couldn’t imagine what had happened to create such a complete turn around. A morbid chill ran up her spine and she crossed her arms. She didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to know. But she was afraid… she was going to find out one way or another.  
“I understand, but…” Farlan whispered.  
Levi told him, “Follow your plan and get rid of the documents – that is my concern.”  
“I know…” Farlan whispered.  
Levi started to say something else to FArlan when noise was starting to be made on the other side of the door from out in the hall. He went to tell Kana she needed to leave when he realized the window was open and she was already gone. He felt a weird sensation run through him and it caused yet another foreign feeling in his chest.  
It left him feeling cold and hollow. That’s what the feeling of her suddenly disappearing left him with.


	106. Lost

That night, Kana waited until all of the soldiers were settled and in bed. It was very late in the evening, probably almost early morning until she was sure all of them were asleep. She slunk to the window she had marked that afternoon and quietly pushed the pane open just enough she could slip inside. She would eventually need to find where Isabel was staying so she could visit her, too. But for now, this is all she needed.

Levi glanced over when he saw the window open. For some reason, for the second night in a row, he couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep. The beds were too soft, he was uneasy being in the same location as so many other people and his thoughts were in a flurry of worry. But when he saw the red-head climb into the room, he felt like all of it disappeared.  
Noiselessly, she scooted across the floor and slid under the covers of his cot and sidled her tiny body up against his. He remained still, until she slid up and her head poked out from the top of the blanket and rested on his arm. She looked up at him, her crimson eyes bright and full of joy. He still felt like his world shattered every time she looked at him that way.  
He hissed in his quietest whisper, “What do you think you’re doing? There’s a hundred soldiers in here.”  
“They’re asleep. And they won’t even know I’m here.” Kana told him.  
“How do you know that? What if one of them wakes up in the middle of the night and sees you?”  
Kana paused and then crawled over him and to his other side so she was between him and the wall. She curled up and whispered back, “There, now they won’t see me. They’ll only see you.”  
He glared at her, not convinced. “And in the morning when they call all the soldiers up? How are you going to sneak out?”  
“I’ll be awake long before that.”  
“How can you be so sure?”  
Kana sighed heavily and sat up a bit. “Would you rather I not stay in here with you? It sounds like you don’t want me to…”  
Levi grabbed her quickly and yanked her back down, playfully smashing her into the mattress, “What the hell kind of question is that, stupid? Of course I want you in here.”  
Kana blushed with how straight forward he was about it. But it slowly turned into a smile and she teased, “Then quit complaining. You’re being annoying.”  
It was like her presence was some kind of drug for him. The moment she gave him that look. That look of meretriciousness, one slender red brow crooked over her sparkling ruby colored eye, he felt the rest of his worries and concerns disappear into some void. None of them existed when she was around. He sat up and met her face to face, “You have some nerve calling me annoying. You’re the one going around making me worry all the time.”  
“Then quit being so damn paranoid.”  
He gritted his teeth. How did she keep flipping everything back on him? “You – “  
She leaned up and kissed him softly. He felt his world stop turning for just the brief second and he lost his train of thought. When she pulled back, she softly ordered, “Why don’t you go to sleep soldier-boy? You have a long day ahead of you.”  
As soon as she said it, he felt the weight of his weariness. Ten seconds ago, before she had crawled in through the window, he hadn’t been tired in the least. Now he was struggling to even keep his eyes opened. He leaned to her, resting his forehead on her shoulder and whispered, “You’re sure you’ll be safe in here?”  
“Of course. I’ll have you right beside of me, won’t I?” Her words were soft and loving and she wrapped her arms around him. Those arms were so soft and so tender that he couldn’t imagine a better way to fall asleep. She slowly lay down, keeping him tucked against her. It was strange. He felt that he should keep his protective hold around her when they were in bed, but it always seemed to him that she was the one protecting him. She opened him up to his more vulnerable emotions, but she never failed to protect him from their consequences.  
The comfort lulled him to sleep within moments of clinging tightly to her.

The next morning, all the soldiers were eating in the mess hall. Farlan was watching Levi, seeing him for the third time, pull a piece of bread off and hold it under the table where it disappeared. When a couple soldiers walked by, Farlan seethed, “What are you doing?”  
Levi gave him a bland look. “What do you mean?”  
“Is Kana under the table?” Farlan snapped.  
Levi looked at him as though he was asking a stupid, obvious question. He handed another piece under the table and Kana eagerly snatched it up. Farlan gasped and shouted in a whisper, “What if someone sees? Can you make it any more obvious?”  
Levi sighed and went back to his food, casually saying, “She has to eat, Farlan.”  
“Yeah, but – “ Farlan gasped when Isabel started doing the same thing.  
She laughed and said, “Yeah, it’s like having a little puppy.” She gasped when she was punched in the shin.  
Levi couldn’t help the smirk that curved his lip and he said, “Isabel. Don’t offend her. It’s more like having a pet cat.” He grunted when he, too, was punched just under his knee. But he was still smirking.  
They looked up as one of the younger soldiers, a boy with black hair, glared at them and said, “It sure is unsightly having so much trash at one table. But at least it’s not contaminating the other soldiers.” He snarked.  
Kana glared at the boy as he walked by, everyone oblivious to her sitting under the table. She rested her cheek on Levi’s knee, glaring at everyone who walked by. She could hear the scoffs and see the glares and it made her so mad. All of them were the trash. She squeezed herself to Levi’s leg, noticing that even their new captain – Fragon, or as she preferred Fagron - scoffed at them, glaring as he walked out of the mess hall. But she was suddenly distracted when she saw another piece of bread from Isabel. She eagerly tended to the new food.

The first day, Fragon was reluctantly showing them around the different training areas that they’d be working in for the next few weeks. There was a forest with targets, a combat arena, the stables, and several other places. Kana was lingering on the rooftop of the barn as she watched the others trot into the stable. She crawled down and made her way through the window, watching them from just outside. Fragon scolded, “Do you kids even know what a horse is or do I need to explain this as well?”  
Levi glared at there captain and he started to snap at him, but Farlan raised his hand, shushing Levi before he could say anything they’d all regret. Farlan said, “We may not have been up on the surface but there were plenty of horses that came and went. I think we have a good handle on what they are.”  
Fragon rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Good. Then saddle up.”  
The captain left, stomping through the entry way and leaving the three of them alone. Kana climbed into one of the stables and lay on the back of one of the horses. She looked at the others with a big smile and said, “Good to see you’re getting along well.”  
Levi grumbled and said, “You’re being pretty casual. What if he walks back in here?”  
“Then I’ll hide in the stall. Let me worry about hiding.” Kana giggled, leaning her chin on the horses withers. She watched as they pulled a horse out of the stall and they began tacking the beast up. Her gaze grew distant as she watched the three friends occasionally squabbling with each other as they prepared their rides. It brought a smile to her lips, reminding her of herself, Tsuki, and Leah when they were in the training squad. They thought they knew exactly what they were doing, but they still came across looking like immature kids. Just like these three. It made her wonder more and more how her friends were dealing without her. She hoped at this point they were still dreading over what had happened. If Tsuki exhausted herself and they were attacked, then their chances of returning home safely were slimmer. Her gaze softened more, thinking about the only regret she had. Her captain. She hated that she had left him alone once again.  
She gasped when she realized Isabel was suddenly in her face. With a wide grin, she asked, “Why do you look so sad suddenly, Kana-san?”  
“I’m just… thinking.” Kana whispered, offering the girl a smile. “Did you guys get all set up and ready?”  
Isabel nodded her head rapidly and Kana said, “Then I’ll catch you later. Fragon’s coming back.” She lifted herself up off the horse and shot back out the window just as the angry captain returned.

Levi looked down as the other soldiers were gathering their food for lunch and relaxing between training sessions. They were all sitting out in the open field, except for Levi’s team who were sitting away from the others in the protection of the forest. After spending so long in the underground, sitting in the open field was fairly nerve-racking. Levi sighed and leaned back against the truck of the tree, sitting on the branch while Kana dropped down, climbing into his lap and leaning against his chest. It had become so natural for her to attach herself to him in such a way, any chance they got. It had been almost a week since they got here and she’d had a couple close calls with a few soldiers, but so far she was still mostly unknown to the others. Levi’s arms wrapped around her slender form, keeping her tucked safely against him. He ran his hand through her hair a few times and kissed the crown of her head.  
Kana blushed and whispered, “Sorry, I’m really gross. I haven’t gotten a chance to take a shower. I can’t run water without someone on the girls side noticing.”  
Levi frowned a bit and said, “We’ll figure out something tonight so you can wash up.” His thumb stroked the side of her head, feeling how wonderfully soft her skin was. His gaze was so warm and gentle as he looked upon her.  
Kana asked suddenly, “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you… The way your name is written sounds more like ‘Rivialle’ than Levi. Is there a reason you go by Levi instead?”  
Levi shrugged his shoulders and said, “I found it was difficult for people to pronounce it so I just started going by Levi instead. Not a big deal.”  
“Can I call you by it?” Kana asked, her crimson eyes sparkling with hopefulness. “I like the way it sounds.”  
Levi rubbed her back and chuckled, “If you want, that’s fine. Up to you.”  
Kana nuzzled her head deeper against his chest, a big smile on her lips. He smelled so good and it always calmed and relaxed her. He leaned his arm on his bent up knee while his other stroked her back, soothing her and putting her easily to sleep. This whole situation sucked, but with her, it was a little easier. She made things worthwhile and relaxed him when he got worked up. He’d grown to anticipate these moments with her. The times when he could actually relax. He brushed his fingers along the fabric of her shirt, feeling the way her slender body curved to conform to his. He realized she was already completely asleep and he didn’t mind.  
After a while and the soldiers were all getting up and around, he nudged her shoulder softly. His little crimson angel stirred and offered a groggy, “Hn?”  
“We gotta go.” He told her softly. She nodded her head, slipping out of his lap and jumping into the trees as Levi dropped down, landing beside Farlan and Isabel.   
Isabel put her arms behind her head and giggled, “Have a good rest, Levi?”  
He glared at her, but there was the smallest hint of a smile on his lips as he nodded his head.

For the next several days, it was always the same routine. They would all train, get dirty looks from other soldiers, and Kana would visit them when she was able, always cheering from the sidelines. There was one day though, that he noticed, he didn’t see his angel at all. He’d usually catch her lingering in a tree or on top of a building or something, keeping any eye out for them, but this day, he didn’t see one trace of her. By noon, a frown was permanently carved on his lips. Especially because she wasn’t even there when she always was.  
“Where’s Kana-san?” Isabel asked.  
Levi’s frown deepened. Looking at the lunch that he always shared with her, he suddenly wasn’t feeling hungry.  
Farlan commented, “I’m guessing that means he doesn’t know.”  
“Maybe she’s napping.” Isabel suggested, around her food as she stuffed her mouth.  
Levi didn’t say anything. He was certain that wasn’t what she was doing.

Kana was running through town, but slowed to a stop when the streets became familiar. It was so weird to be able to walk past wall Rose through Trost without the fear of Titans or a giant boulder blocking the way. As she walked though, it reminded her of that battle. Of how they all worked together to push the titans back. She remembered how valiantly Levi had protected her during that battle. Her gaze softened as she walked, her fingertips brushing the building beside her as she walked. Did he remember all of these things? Had his feelings for her remained after six years? Now his question before she was sent back made much more sense. He’d wanted to know why she didn’t remember being with him, Isable and Farlan. Part of her was pleased, knowing that this was real and that he continued to care so much for her. But with that happy thought came the dark rock of wonder.  
Where were Isabel and Farlan?  
Kana stopped and looked up when she realized that she was within view of her old home. But a woman with pink hair was walking out. She recognized this woman better than anyone. The light red eyes, the lips that were almost always curved into a smile. Before Kana could stop herself, she shrieked, “Mom!”  
The woman stopped and quickly turned, looking at Kana. Her eyes were wide. There was no mistaking the red hair and red eyes. That was definitely her child. Breathlessly she gasped, “Who are you?”  
“Mom, I need your help.” Kana stated. “A friend of mine was a time slayer and she accidentally sent me back to the past. I need to – “ Kana stopped, her hand falling limp to her side. Did she really want to return to her time? Where her friends thought her a traitor? Where she had to hide her feelings for the person she loved most? Where it felt like she didn’t really belong?  
The woman’s gaze softened as she watched her child, seeing how well she was going to grow up, but right now she didn’t have time for sentiment. “When and where were you? I’ll help.”  
“W-wait. Maybe I don’t… Maybe I’m better off here…” Kana whispered, gasping when her mother knelt down in front of her and cupped her cheeks.   
She softly said, “I never imagined you’d become so beautiful, my little flower. But look at you. You look so strong. Did you find something in this time that you’d lost in your own?”  
Kana remained silent, not sure how to respond to this. After another moment, her mother continued, “You’ve probably faced many challenges, in which case you should know by now that the easy way out isn’t the correct one. You don’t belong in this time, and you’re needed in the other. If you don’t return, you’ll create an infinite chain. So trust me. We need to get you back home.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead who suddenly pushed her back.  
“What are you doing? Lecturing me!?” Kana felt her eyes trembling with emotion as she shouted, “Don’t pretend to be a mother now! You took off on me when I needed you the most! Now you’re saying you’re just going to waltz back and make everything okay!? What kind of mother are you?”  
With saddened eyes she said, “Not a very good one, I know. Will you… forgive me, some day?”  
After ignoring her question and telling her where and when she was, she watched her mother walk away once again. Out of curiosity, Kana stopped outside of her home, leaning in and looking at younger version of herself. She was playing with her younger siblings while her loving aunt and uncle watched over them. The sight brought a warmth to her heart that she hadn’t felt in a long time. That she hadn’t felt since the day she learned they were gone.  
By the time Kana was able to compose herself and make it back to the Survey Corps barracks, it was already plenty late enough that she was able to climb through the window without any trouble. There was no way Levi could have been asleep because the moment the window opened, he sat straight up and stared at her with shock. She clambered in and all but collapsed against him. Automatically his arms wrapped securely around her and he pressed his face against her neck and hair, harshly whispering, “Where in the fuck have you been? I was worried sick.”  
His harsh words brought the flood of emotion back ten fold. Why had her mother never worried over her? She gripped his shirt, trying to keep her sobbing quieted down. “Sorry, Rivi-kun… There was something I had to do…”  
“Kana… why are you crying?” He asked her as softly as he could. His compassionate and tender fingers ran through her hair, trying to relax her as he always did. And it was working.  
Her eye lids were growing heavy as she softly answered, “I had to go back and see my old home… just once.”  
“Where you came from?” His voice was tender, but guarded. He knew there were topics close to this that she didn’t want to talk about.  
“Kind of…”  
“Do you want to go back?”  
Her eyes widened and she felt like the question may as well have been a knife and he should have just repeatedly stabbed her with it. Her voice cracked as she answered, “No. I don’t want to go back. Not anymore. I want to stay here with you and Isabel and Farlan. Where… my friends don’t think I’m a traitor and want me back…”  
“You can stay with us as long as you like…” Levi whispered, tightening his arms around her. A bit more quietly he added, “Even… forever if you want…”  
“I would… love that.” Kana whispered softly into the darkness. There was nothing that brought her more warmth and joy than his tender but powerful embraces.  
“Kana… what if…when we return from this expedition… what if… I proposed to you?”  
Kana’s eyes widened in surprise and her hands tightened on the cloth over his torso. The thought of it alone had her heart racing and she whispered, “I’d say yes… without hesitation…”  
“We’ll have plenty of money once we get those documents. I want to give you back at least some portion of the happiness you’ve given me. And… I’ve thought of marrying you for a while now…”  
“There’s nothing I’d love more… Rivialle…” Like she always did, she buried her face into his chest and breathed him in.  
He had to admit, it had been a while since he’d heard that translation of his name. But he didn’t dislike hearing it from her. He pressed his lips to her hair and slowly closed his eyes. This woman, so quickly had become something so significant in his life. She gave him motivation, purpose, a goal. As long as there was a smile on her lips, he was content. And as long as she was at his side, his life was worth living. Carefully, he lay down on his back, keeping her securely on his chest as he continued running his hand through her hair. He whispered her name once more before wishing her a goodnight and letting his eyes close.  
As he relaxed, her body curled even further around his, making him feel even more secure. It brought him a comfort he received no where else.


	107. Childhood Friends

Several days passed in current time and Tsuki was spending all of her time working with Jean to manipulate time. Because of the power enhancers, she was able to use her abilities entirely at will, but it was taking more effort than expected to pin down where she needed to be. And figuring out how to change the location was nearly impossible.  
Tsuki was sitting next to Jean, her head on his shoulder when Demi and Eren walked up to them. Demi handed off a canteen to her. “Hey Tsuki, how are you feeling?”  
“I’m…not sure.” Tsuki stated. “I’m hopeful still, but I’m also frustrated. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. She could be anywhere. And since I don’t know exactly what time I’m looking into, even Hanji and Levi can’t help.”  
“Really?” Eren asked.  
Jean nodded his head. “They came over a couple times to see through and see if they could identify anything that would lead us to her, but so far we’re not getting anything figured out. They know where we supposedly grab her from during the expedition, but finding the right moment and syncing up with it is proving nearly impossible.”  
Demi looked down and then glanced over, seeing the woman was talking with Levi and Hanji at the moment. She sighed, “Tsuki, there’s something I need to loop you in on, but you can’t say anything.”  
“Okay?” Tsuki questioned.  
“That woman is not our aly.” Demi informed. “I…retrieved a chunk of memory… of this place.”  
Tsuki straightened up. “You did?”  
Demi nodded. “I watched her kill Kana. I don’t remember why, but I saw her do it. She was filled with so much rage. If you’re able to find Kana… you can’t pull her out right away.”  
Tsuki’s eyes widened. “I have to! If I find her and hesitate, I might miss my chance! I don’t know if I’d be able to do it again!”  
Demi squeezed her hands. “We know you can. You bring Kana back. Hanji and Levi have confirmed that numerous times. What isn’t confirmed is what happens when we do. The way Meria has been so mysterious and vague has me…suspicious. Please… do this for me.”  
Tsuki stared at the ground for several minutes. “The two of you had been at each others throats. That’s the whole reason this even happened in the first place. Now…you’re wanting to protect her?”  
Demi looked away. “Look. Kana and I have some shit to work out. And I know it’s hard to believe because of how Sarthis has been acting, but I don’t want her to die. And she doesn’t want to kill me either. I’m not going to sit here and tell you we’re not going to fight more once she’s back. But I’m damn sure not going to let some rando come in and kill her. Understand?”  
Tsuki smiled. “Yeah. I do. I guess, even through hard fights, you’re still friends.”  
Jean smiled as well and stated, “It’s hard to believe that we really haven’t known you all that long, Demi. You showed up right before we learned about Reiner and Burt and you’ve been a part of the crew so flawlessly.”  
There was a heavy weight in Demi’s eyes at Jeans’ words and she confessed, “Actually… it’s not that hard to believe.” Her gaze shifted to Tsuki before she turned completely around and found Leah also sitting beside Armin off the edge of the slab. She waved her hand, motioning for the girl to join them.  
“What’s up?” Leah asked, joining the circle with Armin.  
“I… wanted to bring this up with Kana here, too. But before she was sent back, we were too busy arguing and now, I just need to get it off my chest.” Demi explained. “I’m sure this will be hard to believe from the new kid in the crew… but one of my pieces of memory came back the night I chased after Kana. In the rain… I remembered us. All of us Slayers, sitting around in a circle with… that woman – Meria. We were children. She was teaching us.”  
Tsuki’s eyes slowly widened.  
Demi carried on. “I know that’s crazy to believe but I think we were all childhood friends. We all knew each other back when we were kids…”  
Leah whispered, “That is crazy. Is it possible? I mean… we all came from different places… didn’t we?”  
“No… I doubt we did.” Demi whispered. “I think we all had to come from that isolated place that Meria spoke of.”  
“Then how did we end up here?” Leah asked. Her frown deepened. “I want to believe you but… it can’t be true.”  
“No, I think she’s right.” Tsuki whispered. “I remember…whenever I think of my parents… I think of her hair. I remember… playing with the braid of a woman with hair just like hers. I don’t know how we all got where we did, but Demi isn’t lying. We all knew her. That’s how she knows our names. That’s how she knows so much about us.”  
Demi felt a flood of relief wash over her. They didn’t think she was mad.  
Leah pursed her lips. “It still blows my mind and leaves a lot of questions but…I’ll believe it. It’s no more startling than when I learned I was a Slayer.”  
Armin smiled at Leah and then commented, “It seems that something played a hand in all of you coming back together. It can’t just be coincidence. And then this woman who cared for all of you coming here and teaching you how to use your powers…I feel like… all of this is meant to happen just as it is…”  
“All the more reason you have to bring Kana back.” Demi assured.  
Tsuki jumped to her feet. “I will! I swear I’m going to bring her back!” She wasted no time, turning around and raising her hands to once again open up a small portal of time in the archway.

Meria smiled as she watched Tsuki train, encouraged by her friends. “Doesn’t watching them give you hope?”  
Hanji and Levi gave her an odd look before Hanji stated, “They give us hope by existing. Because of them and Eren, humanity has been able to do many things we never thought possible.”  
“Well. There’s certainly more of that to come. Now that they have learned the truth of Slayers. You’ll see new abilities and powers beyond what you ever dreamed. They’re sure to guide you to something beautiful.”  
Hanji commented, “You say that like you’re not sticking around. We could use someone as powerful as you around.”  
Meria shook her head. “Even if I wanted to stay here… I won’t be welcomed any longer once Tsuki brings Kana back.”  
Levi narrowed his eyes at her. “You said Kana asked you to come here.”  
Meria chuckled. “She did. Only while biting her tongue till it bled. It killed her to have to ask me for help. And she did so with the full expectation that I would leave once she returned.”  
Hanji and Levi paused at this. Hanji rubbed the back of her head. “I guess maybe I should have asked when you first told us Kana asked you to come here. But… how do the two of you know each other?”  
Meria paused at this and sighed. “I guess there’s no real sense in hiding it or lying about it but Kana’s the daughter I don’t talk to anymore.”  
Hanji gasped, “What!?”  
Levi narrowed his eyes. “And what caused your falling out?”  
Meria arched a brow. “It’s really not obvious? I dropped her off with three other kids and told her good luck with her life. I’m a great mother, right?” She laughed humerouslessly before her hand dropped to her side. “I wanted to be a good mother. But I couldn’t. I can’t mend that now.” She straightened up. “So…once Kana returns, I’ll be off again.”  
“You should talk to her before you go.” Hanji stated. “Don’t just run away.”  
“Running away is all I ever do.” Meria insisted. “Thank you but… I’m not looking for advice on these matters. It’s complicated.”  
Levi pursed his lips before looking back at the brats as Tsuki continued searching through time. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer.  
And then the real challenges would begin.


	108. A New Weapon

The next day, all the soldiers were sitting out and about eating lunch, but the trio and Kana were sitting in their usual little cove so Kana was laying with her head in his lap, happily taking a few bites when Levi handed them to her. With his other hand, he was stroking her bangs, smiling as they flipped out of her face and always caused her to lean closer to his hand. He glanced up when he heard Farlan comment, “I heard the expedition is only a few days away.”  
Levi frowned and said, “And you haven’t come any closer to getting those documents have you?”  
Farlan shook his head dejectedly, “Looks like we’re going to have to go out there.”  
Kana frowned deeply at his words and she said, “Be careful… okay? Those titans can be nasty things.”  
Isabel stuck her tongue out at Kana and said, “You’re talking like you’ve seen one before.”  
Kana frowned but Levi quickly changed the subject, “Just focus on getting those documents, Farlan. That’s all that matters.”   
A little bit later, the other two got up, cleaning up their messes and headed on, joining the rest of the militia in returning to training. But Levi lingered. He watched Kana as she sat up and brushed the dirt off her side. He whispered calmly and said, “When we leave, you’re staying here. And I mean it this time. Or better yet, go back to our base in the underground.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and she said, “What? You can’t be serious. You three aren’t going out there alone – “  
“Please.” Levi’s voice was harsh, as though he were giving her an order, but his eyes were soft and that silvery texture was glistening with emotion. She could see clearly how worried he was about her. But this was a promise that even if she made, she couldn’t keep. It wasn’t Levi’s life she feared for. It was Isabel and Farlan’s. In her time, Levi was alive and well. Farlan and Isabel were gone. She had to prevent that, no matter the cost. The moment that Kana opened her mouth, he knew she was protesting so he gripped her arms and his words became a little more desperate. “I’m begging you, Kana. Don’t – “  
Kana sucked in a breath, preparing for a speech, but as soon as she did, she started coughing and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She felt the warm liquid spatter onto her palm and she started gasping for air. As soon as it started, Levi wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close. He whispered sweet nothings to her, rubbing her back and trying his best to calm her down. Alas, she whispered, “I’m alright.”  
He withdrew and yanked off his cravat, wiping the blood away from her lips and chin and then her hand as he explained, “This is why I can’t let you come with us. I don’t… even know how long you have left with me as it is. That’s why… please… understand…” He gritted his teeth. He hadn’t said anything to her, but he’d watched, day by day she’d grown paler and paler. She was starting to look really weak and it terrified him. She was the one thing in this world he couldn’t lose and it felt like she was slowly deteriorating in his grasp. It wouldn’t take much in a battle with titans to lose her forever. He wasn’t willing to take that risk. He wasn’t willing to cut their time even shorter. That was why he wanted to hurry, upon their return, to put that precious metal upon her finger and call her, his and his alone.  
Kana sighed and weakly nodded her head. “Fine… I agree. Just this once.”

The morning that they left it felt like her world was being shattered. At this point, she didn’t care about being seen. She raced into the barn where they were prepping and slammed herself into Levi with enough force to knock him over. She squeezed him as hard as she could and told him, “Please be safe. All of you protect each other…!”  
Isabel and Farlan’s gaze softened and Levi held her tightly against him. His squeeze was almost strong enough that it hurt, but not quite. Instead, it felt like it was desperate to never let her go. To make her a part of him. She pulled back just a few inches and stroked his precious face, whispering hurriedly, “Come back to me, Rivialle, no matter what, got it? I love you…”  
Levi gave her the smallest smirk and he kissed her deeply but quickly as he pulled the both of them back to her feet. He hushed her and said, “Stop talking like you think we’re doing to die. We’ll be fine.” He pulled her in by the back of her head, pressing his lips to her forehead and whispered, “I love you, too, Kana. When we return, everything will be ready and we can live like royalty in the innermost walls, okay?”  
“I’m holding you to it, Rivi-kun.” She kissed him once more before pulling away and trotting quickly out of the barn, leaving them to join the rest of the Survey Corps as they lined up. As she trotted along, she happened to glance at Erwin, seeing that the Commander was glaring directly at her. A wicked and possessive grin came to her lips. Let him glare. He could try all he wanted to draw him and take him from her, but Levi had always been and would always be hers. And hers alone. She would protect him until her dying breath. She looked back at her trio as they climbed onto their horses and joined the ranks. Her eyes narrowed upon the bright red bracelet that adorned Isabel’s wrist. Her mother was wrong. This was where she belonged. So she had to fight to protect her new family. Her new life.  
Kana lingered there, near the stables, watching as one by one, all the Survey Corps members headed for the gate. There was one soldier that hung back longer than he should, struggling to get his horse under control. Kana’s eyes darkened and she felt the rush of all her desires come pouring over her. She’d promised Farlan that she’d protect them all. And for her own sake, she needed to keep that promise. As the horse trotted by her, she suddenly grabbed it’s reins and yanked it around, causing the unsettled rider to fall to the ground. With warm eyes, Kana stroked the muzzle of the stallion and said, “Easy boy. I’m your friend. You can thank my captain for me being more horse-friendly.” The stallion snorted and nuzzled her hand.  
The man she’d knocked off shot up and shouted at her, “Who the hell are you!? And what do you think you’re doing?”  
With a smile she grabbed the man by his poncho and pulled him in close. Her voice was filled with malice as she barked. “Give me your poncho and your horse. I have to go on this mission to protect my friends.” She was already yanking the green fabric off of him as he protested, trying to get answers. She gave him one solid kick to the neck which knocked him unconscious. Once she was situated, she climbed up on her new horse and kicked into gear. She yanked both hoods over her head so that no one would see her crimson hair. Once she was beyond the walls, it wouldn’t matter. But for now she didn’t want anyone to notice her.  
Looking down at her black shorts and red top under the maneuver gear, though, she realized she was going to stand out no matter what. Oh well. Guess she’d just have to hurry.  
At the front of the pack, she heard Shardis scream, “Open the gate!” As the gate slowly began to rise, he continued, “Today we will once again advance one step forward! Show me the results of your training! Show them the power of mankind!” Once the gate was completely risen, he screamed, “All units!! Advance!!!”  
The ground was suddenly roaring with the pounding of hooves. The great beasts trampled the ground as they forged ahead, carving a path for humanity. One year. One long year it had been since she felt this kind of rush. Since she had felt the freedom beneath her weightless wings.   
Since she had felt this kind of joy.  
She quickly realized that her horse was tearing through the pack, pushed on by her eagerness to reach outside. As far as she could remember, she had never been beyond wall Maria. She had never been beyond the true outside. That she remembered. This would be her first time completely past all of the walls. She quickly whoaed her horse up, but an excited smile curved her lips when she realized that her horse had brought her within view of her trio, Fragon and the other punk kid in their squad.  
“Hey… this would be a good time… someone… tell me this isn’t happening.” Farlan begged as his horse ran along.  
An extremely sarcastic and anxious Levi retorted with, “Yeah, this whole situation is one big lie. I mean, who’s ever heard of people from the underground going beyond the walls?”  
The statement not only caused a giggle to escape her, but it made her smile out of straight happiness too. This situation seemed very similar to her. She wasn’t a member of the underground, but she was a criminal and thief like he was. Was it truly just because he recognized her from this time that he invited her to the Survey Corps? Or was it because of her background. Was it because she was so much like him that he had felt that connection?  
Or was it she who had developed a connection because of it?  
They drew closer and closer to the gate and her heart was pounding with eagerness.  
Before she knew it, all of them were out the gate and racing across the ground touched only by the sun. Perhaps it was an illusion. But it seemed like everything was brighter here than in the cities or even farms. It felt like this land wasn’t trampled on by humans and was so much more beautiful. All of them were gazing up at the sky in wonder and awe. Isabel let out a happy shriek, “Wow!!”  
Farlan nodded his head in a drunken stupor, agreeing, “Yeah…”  
Even Levi was in shock, his eyes wide with awe that the sun could be so bright and the world so open. He muttered, “Not bad…”  
His expression was matched by the weight of his words. It was more than not bad to him. His gaze said that he’d never seen anything so incredible in his life. And honestly, neither had she. She was every bit as excited to be here, seeing the open world. See the reason the Survey Corps fought. If every person inside of the walls had the strength to look up at this and feel this freedom, perhaps they would all fight. Perhaps they could even win…  
The moment was short lived though, when Farlan dejectedly said, “Ha… this is the worst. We actually went outside the walls. According to our plans we were to have that thing by now, but… I can’t figure out where Erwin is hiding it.”  
Levi calmly assured him. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the titans.”   
“But even you can’t handle all of them.”  
“Do you not trust me?”  
“No… that’s not it…”  
Isabel giggled and teased, “Hehe…! Farlan’s scared!”  
“Hey! Who’s scared!?” Farlan shouted at her.  
“Leave it to us, Farlan! Killing those titans should be as easy as swatting a couple flies!” Isabel told him, laughing. Then back to Levi she said, “Hey big bro, if we kill all of the titans, then Kana-san can come out here with us next time!”  
Levi glanced at her over his shoulder and nodded his head. “Yeah. Then we’ll just have to hurry and kill all of them.”  
Isabel continued to squeal with happiness. “We should all have a picnic when we do that! That’d be great! But I get to cuddle Kana-san!”  
Kana couldn’t help the dark smile on her lips. It wanted to be happy, but instead it broken. If only something like that were truly possible. She’d have that picnic with them in a heartbeat.  
The other boy on the team, the black haired one, screamed, “Quit screwing around! The titans you’re so optimistic about aren’t as nice and sweet as you think! Just remember how many excellent soldiers have been devoured by them! You underground thugs shouldn’t be so cocky!”  
“Hey.” Isabel said with a glare at the boy. “You say that and call us names. But if I manage to take down a titan, it’d mean those guys couldn’t even amount to some thug.”  
The boy – Sayran – grew even more pissed off and snarled, “What did you just say!? You – “  
Levi suddenly reined his horse around, moving between the two and cutting Sayran off while he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He stayed between them, glaring darkly at the furious boy. Kana felt her heart racing in her chest. That was just like her captain, her hero. He didn’t care the consequences for himself, he was always the first one to protect his comrades. If only these people could see that. In the future, she wasn’t even sure anyone within the walls knew the true story of who he was and where he came from. If they knew how great he’d become, they wouldn’t trash talk him now.  
From the other side of him, Fragon shouted at Sayran, “Enough! Just calm down and stay in the new formation we’ve been practicing! There’s no telling when the titans will appear so don’t break it!” Looking directly at Levi, he snidely added, “There’s a difference between practice and the real thing after all.”  
Kana narrowed her eyes. Another one joins the ranks. This guy had it out for Levi since day one. If she had an opportunity, she’d love to let a Titan rip him apart.  
The thought suddenly had her blood running cold.   
She had never seen Fragon before either. But she knew Erwin, Mike, Hanji, and Shardis.  
Why was there… no one else…? Now her heart was slamming obnoxiously in her chest and she wondered:  
Just… what the hell happens on this expedition?  
“A titan sighted!”  
“A 15-meter class on the right flank’s side approaching from the forest! It’s coming this way!”  
Shardis shouted, “It’s getting close! Getting past it may be impossible… it’s unavoidable! Engage! Vanguard soldiers, follow me! Middle guard protect the carts! Don’t let it out of the forest! Switch to 3DMG!”  
They rushed, engaging the first titan, but as they did, another, larger one came stumbling out of the forest. Kana narrowed her eyes and tightened on her reins. They may need her help. One of the rear guard captains shouted, “Another one appeared! A 20-meter class! We’ll distract it! Rear guard, pick up your speed and shake it off! Lead it into the forest!”  
But the titan rushed on by them without paying any attention. Instead, it headed straight for the supply cart. Another person yelled, “Watch out! This one is an abnormal!”  
“This is bad! The formation is falling apart! The area surrounding the supply carts is empty! Fragon’s squad! Close the distance and defend that cart with your life!”  
A sardonic grin spread on Kana’s lips. Was this really the Survey Corps? Did they used to be this pathetic? It was unreal just how terrible they all were. They needed Levi more than she realized.  
As she braced her feet up on the saddle, to get ready to leap into action, the thought stopped her. Levi had spoken of just hiding out within the walls for the remainder of their time if this mission succeeded. If she saved Farlan and Isabel, and they accomplished their goal… what would happen to the Survey Corps? To Humanity? She hadn’t realized until this moment how significant of a contribution Levi had played to all of it. The lives he’d saved, the things he’d done. And Erwin had known his potential from the beginning. That’s why he did it. That was why he forced Levi to the Survey Corps at all costs. Was her contribution the right way to go?  
Was preventing that tragedy worth the lives that would be lost in return?  
When she thought of all of them happily sitting around, laughing and joking, she realized that it was in fact worth it. She’d give up anything to keep all of them together.  
Even if this one decision meant the downfall of humanity.  
Kana was standing on her saddle, coming back to reality as Fragon shouted for all of them to keep them away from the supply carts. Three of his squad, all newbies according to what she’d seen and heard from the barracks, all swung in on the titan at once. One landed on it’s side. Why wasn’t he going for a kill? He was going to be - Too late. A hand grabbed him, plucking him from his side and shoving him into his mouth. Another of them gasped and flew in while the Titan had stopped to devour the other human. They both flew in straight towards the nape of the titan’s neck.  
When it started wiggling around, it threw both of them off their target and they were thrown around helplessly in the air. They were swung around into his mouth where it spit out the pieces when it was done before starting to run for the supply carts again. Fragon cursed ahead of her and Kana pulled at her gloves. Looks like she was going to have to step in. Before she could say anything, Levi rushed up on the other side of Fragon and Sayram. He sardonically asked, “Didn’t you say the titans aren’t that sweet? Then why are you trying to lick them? What’s with this half-assed fighting style?” He turned quickly to Farlan and Isabel and said, “Let’s go you two!”  
Farlan gasped and shouted, “I’d rather drink sewer water than deal with this shit!”  
“Farlan, take that attitude and shove it!” Isabel yelled back.  
Kana kept pace, following the trio up behind the titan. Levi was saying, “The way it was flailing its arms just now will be a pain, but at least it’ll stop running when we attack it.”  
Isabel whined and said, “Shit, it’s big ain’t it?”  
Farlan laughed humorlessly, “Yeah, there’s no way we can beat this thing, but…”  
Levi ordered them, “I’ll distract the titan by grappling onto it! You guys break its knees to kill its mobility! Got it?”  
Kana smiled warmly. There was her captain. Just as she remembered him.  
Isabel shouted back, “Easy-peasy!”  
“Yeah… got it…” Farlan said less enthusiastically.  
Like he’d done it a million times, Levi pushed his horse up along side the titan, sinking his 3DMG into the back of the titan and yanking himself forward, stabbing his swords right into it’s back. He quickly retracted his gear until he was planted firmly on it’s back. Once he had a firm hold on the titan, it began panicking and sucked itself up, trying to reach back at Levi. This opened up around him and gave Farlan and Isabel an opening.  
Isabel was super excited, but as she guessed, Farlan was none too happy. They both swung through, around to the front of the titan. When their gear reached it’s limit, they were suddenly slingshotted right back, spinning around and carving two massive gashes into the titan’s legs. Kana stared with wide eyes, reminded so much of the Levi squad. Their moves were so similar, their team work so flawless. It brought a pain to her heart. So many good people died by these monsters…  
Now that the titan’s mobility was halted, Levi jumped up suddenly, spinning around in the air over the titan’s head and came back down quickly, slicing a massive chunk out of it’s neck. As the titan collapsed, Kana saw one more coming up on the other side of it. Kana jumped, sinking her gear into the neck of the falling titan and pulling herself up quickly. She flew by Levi who was turning and just now seeing the second titan ready to pounce. Kana bounced off the back of that titan’s head and landed on the shoulder of the new titan. She easily swung around, slicing out that titan’s neck in a similar fashion, watching as both of them now were collapsed on the ground.   
Isabel waved over at her and said, “Yo! Good job!”  
Levi glared in her direction and she noticed that he was looking at her uniform, or that fact that it wasn’t Survey Corps uniform. She turned quickly as Erwin trotted up on his horse. The damn bastard looked like he’d just found a pot of gold. The way he was looking at the squad was really pissing her off. But she had to admit. He was sure right about his instincts when being so persistent to have Levi in the Survey Corps. But Erwin’s gaze turned back to her, knowing instantly who she was after seeing her that morning. Her grip tightened on her sword, ready for him to confront her when she suddenly felt a massive rumbling through the ground.  
She turned quickly around, facing the forest again now and her eyes widened as she honed in her energy and suddenly several red auras were glowing and coming at them. She counted at least… seven? Eight? An entire herd of titans were coming right at them. Beside her, Isabel rushed up and asked, “What’s that noise?”  
“Titans. A lot of them.” Kana answered sharply, turning to her dear little sister. But she froze in place when she did. Around Isabel was a deep purple glow, almost exactly similar to that of the titans. Her eyes were wide with realization of just what Isabel was. She was a weapon. Then it was no wonder she was an orphan. Weapons don’t have parents. They weren’t born. Kana’s hand twitched and she backed up a step, turning to the others and shouting, “We need to move! Now! There’s tons of titans headed this way.”  
Erwin’s eyes narrowed and he looked up just as the first couple broke out of the forest. He shouted to the others, “Move the supply carts…Now!!!”  
Kana and the rest of Fragon’s squad were all climbing up on their horses and taking off, but the titans were running quickly out of the forest and in pursuit. Panicked, Farlan shouted, “There is too many too fight and they’re too fast! The supply carts won’t get out of there in time!”  
“Then we gotta defend them!” Isabel shouted.  
“Did you not hear me!?” Farlan retorted. “Not even Levi can stand up to that many titans!”  
Levi glared back. There were about five of them now right behind them and sure enough, more were pouring out of the forest. He hated to agree with Farlan but he knew that he was right. He couldn’t defeat that many titans. Not even with all of the help of the squad. But at this rate… they were going to be trampled and devoured. There had to be some way out of this.  
Kana was staring at the titans, but her gaze kept going to Isabel. Slayers could only use one weapon. But if she could attach herself to Isabel long enough… she could kill them all. But then again, she didn’t even know what kind of weapon Isabel was. But it was a better hope than just trying to outrun them. She saw the fear in Farlan’s eyes and she remembered her promise to him. She had to keep them all alive. She had sworn that to him and herself. Was this how they had died in a past without her? Was this her chance to change fate? She couldn’t doubt herself any longer. Ripping her poncho off, she jumped to her feet in the saddle and looked back at the titans.  
All of them gasped and Levi shouted at her, “What the hell are you doing here!? I thought I told you – “  
“I’m saving your asses.” Kana shouted before suddenly jumping off her horse and tackling Isabel off of hers. Levi and Farlan were suddenly screaming at them, swinging their horses around. When they hit the ground, Isabel stared up at her with shocked, wide and terrified eyes.  
She weakly asked, “Kana-san…? What are you… doing?”  
“I need you to trust me. I don’t have time to explain.” She looked up at the titans, drawing her sword. “Please believe me. We can save all of us. I promise.”  
Isabel was still in shock and still scared, but she trusted her older sister no matter what. “Just tell me what to do.”  
Kana’s gaze softened. “Don’t hate me…” She threw the sword around and stabbed it into their hands, both of them letting a shriek of pain. But as soon as their blood pooled together, both of them began to glow a bright red, surrounding the whole area in a light that was powerful enough to stop the titans in their tracks.

Kana opened her eyes, staring at an area that looked like a bunch of broken red and black puzzle pieces smashed together. She looked down, seeing that her naked body was glowing a bright red and ahead of her, around a small pot that was overflowing with red energy, Isabel was looking around. Her jaw was gaping and she asked, “Kana-san… what is this? Where are we? Ah! Where are the titans!? And brother and Farlan!?”  
“They’re in another space.” Kana answered. “There is no such thing as time here. Right now, we’re inside of our soul.”  
“Our soul?” Isabel repeated.  
Kana’s gaze softened as she whispered, “I’m not human. I have the ability to see weapons that Slayers can use. I’m a slayer and you’re a weapon.”  
This innocent woman in front of her didn’t care about the details or anything else. She excitedly asked, “So together… you and I can save brother and everyone right? Because we get super strong!?”  
“Yes. Our souls have merged, as have our bodies. I didn’t have time to ask you if this was what you wanted and it wasn’t fair of me. But since we’re here now, it means that you’ve accepted me into your soul. Thank you, Isabel.”  
Isabel laced her fingers together, a warm gaze replacing her look upon her. “Kana-san has always been in my soul. Kana-san took the time to read to me, and help me and teach me. She stood up to and protected brother and she gives him the love he deserves. Kana-san will always be important to me. So whatever Kana-san needs… I’ll do whatever I can. And if you can help me become strong. Strong enough to protect brother and Farlan… then… I’d be really happy…”  
“Isabel…”  
“So now… we’ll beat all of the titans right?”  
“Every last one of them. Then we can go on that picnic.”  
With a bright smile and two tiny tears, Isabel stepped towards Kana who wrapped her arms around her. Normally, she’d find two naked girls hugging weird, but these were their souls. They were stripped all boundaries and protection. Nothing was left but their naked emotions, personality, and beings. This was what it truly felt like to bound to someone. She knew that logically, she and Mizuki must have gone through this ritual, but she didn’t remember it. And she didn’t remember Amaak and Tsuki or Leah and Djovvaak going through this either. So then what was so different about this?  
Kana held the fragile girl in her hold and kissed the top of her head, whispering, “Now, let’s show them just how powerful we are.”

Kana opened her eyes, a bright fire was blazing around her like a tornado. Her hair which had suddenly regrown substantially, was now stained in orange as it was ripped into the air, swirling around with the wind kicked up by the flames. Her body was covered in a red and black jumpsuit that hugged every curve of her body. But that wasn’t the biggest shocker. From her back were two perfect wings made out of genuine fire and a tail that looked much like a bird’s tail feathers was almost made of flames and protruding from her rump. On top of that, she could feel thoughts and feeling inside of her that weren’t her own.  
But were exactly the same at the same time. Isabel was screaming and cheering inside of her head as Kana suddenly threw her arms out. “This is too fucking cool! I feel like I could just burn all the titans in one blow! We probably could if we wanted, too, Isabel. No way, seriously! Sweeettt! There’s something even sweeter than that. I can feel it. I can sense how perfect our connection is. We’ve hit a hundred percent. That’s rare for a weapon and Slayer to do. Especially the first time. I think we’ve done something substantial here. But first… let’s get rid of these damn titans.”  
She and Isabel both had the same mind set. As soon as the flames were gone, Kana shot into the air, flying above the first of the Titan’s that weren’t burned to ashes by her flaming tornado. She came down, she spun in the air, her foot engulfed in fire and kicking straight through the nape of the first titan. In nearly the same move, she flipped around and swung her arm out, sending what looked like a Frisbee of fire through three more titans.  
“Oh hell, this makes titan-killing look easy! We’re unstoppable together, Kana-san!” Kana couldn’t help laughing at Isabel as they tore through the titans like they were nothing. One by one they were lit up on fire, leaving a burning path in their wake.  
Levi and Farlan were in shock from atop of their horses, along with everyone else in the expedition. Levi barely muttered, “What… am I looking at…?”  
“A miracle…?” Farlan attempted. But when he looked at Levi, he saw that the soldier’s eyes were shimmering with awe.  
He whispered, “She looks like an angel on fire…”  
“She may as well be one.” Farlan stated.  
Levi glanced over at Erwin who was watching the scene as well. But the Commanders gaze wasn’t transfixed with the same awe and wonder as his and Farlans. No. He was looking upon the woman like a weapon. Like she was his next target to force into the Survey Corps. He gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t let him get his hands on her if it’s the last thing he did.  
Once all the titans were a burning pile of ashes, he ran up to Kana… or Isabel… or whoever it was. She turned to him, her gaze warm as she rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do.”  
“You think?” Levi’s eyes narrowed and his fists were shaking. He was still pissed at her for coming on this expedition. But he’d had no idea she had capabilities like this.  
Kana looked at Isabel who was curled up on the other side of the pot of energy. It was drastically lower than it was a few moments ago and now Isabel was panting and sweating. Her soul was exhausted already? Kana’s eyes widened with realization. “I see. What kind of weapon you are.”  
Isabel looked up at her curiously. “Hm?”  
“We can’t do this very often, Isabel. If again, at all.” Kana told her.  
Isabel shrieked, “Why not!?”  
Suddenly, it was like their connection suddenly timed out and their bodies divided. Kana stumbled a couple steps to her left but as she started to fall, Levi caught her, keeping her from hitting the ground. But then Isabel began to drop down and he gasped, reached out to her as well. He was able to catch her in his other arm, but the weight of both girls caused him to fall back onto the ground as well. He huffed in irritation.   
Kana immediately drew back and looked at Isabel who looked weak and worn out. Isabel weakly asked, “Why not, Kana-san?”  
Kana frowned and said, “Do you not see how much you were drained after only a couple minutes? You’re a blood weapon.”  
“A what…?” Isabel asked.  
Kana sighed and sat back, off of Levi, which allowed Isabel to curl up even more against her brother. She explained, “Normally a blood weapon would use the blood of their host to fuel their energy, but your soul must be worried about my energy so you’re draining yourself instead of me. Which means you’re using up twice the energy you should. It’s too dangerous to do that again.”  
Isabel gasped and shrieked, “But look how strong we became! I want to do it again! I want to protect everyone!”  
Levi frowned at the girls words and said, “Isabel. Don’t endanger yourself. She knows better than you. It’s not worth risking your life over.”  
“But…” Isabel whimpered.  
“Excuse me… I have a few questions…” Erwin stated.  
Kana narrowed her eyes up at the Commander who sat atop his horse, glaring down at them. She hissed, “With all due respect, sir. This isn’t really the time or place to be discussing anything. You’ll get your answers in about six years.”  
Erwin glared at her attitude, but his hand went up to his cheek and he growled, “You’re that same girl… that gave me this bruise, aren’t you?”  
Kana smirked darkly, but an overprotective Levi, still holding on to Isabel, stood between the two of them.  
Clearly aggravated, Erwin kicked his horse off, ordering the men to hurry on to camp for the night.


	109. Future Captain

Just outside of an old abandoned castle, all of the soldiers were helping their horses to food and water for the evening. Isabel looked up and asked, “Are we gonna be resting at this run down joint?” She had regained most of her strength since Kana used her, but she still feared for the smaller red-heads well being. She had gotten so excited about it, but it turned out it wasn’t something they could do very often. They still needed to rely on their own strength. Kana placed her hand upon her stomach. But the brief life-force sharing at healed her injury. Her only set back for living in this time was now cured.  
Now she had no doubts where she belonged.  
Farlan commented, “Pretty sure no one’s been here for at least a year. The walls look pretty battered down but it looks like they’ve made good use of these old ruins. Of course, if the titans attacked, they’d be able to break down the walls with ease, but if we spend the night here, we should be okay.”  
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Titans can’t move at night, huh?” Isabel questioned.  
“Even so.” Levi contradicted, “We don’t know what’s going on outside of these walls. Don’t let your guard down.”  
Kana giggled, “Look at you Mister Overprotective.”  
“I’m just stating facts.” He glared at her when she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned on him from behind, but there was just the softest smile on his lips before he playfully pushed her off.

Inside the castle, Farlan dropped down and groaned, “I didn’t think it would be so easy to take down titans. But we’ve got two totally unstoppable forces on one team. The invincible Levi and whatever the hell Kana and Isabel become when they fuse or whatever.”  
Kana smiled. “We’re still us.”  
“Yeah but you’re one person.” Farlan said. “And you talk to yourself.”  
“That’s because Isabel doesn’t know how to communicate telepathically yet.” Kana explained.  
“Tele what?” Isabel asked.  
“It doesn’t matter.” Levi said sharply. “You said it was too dangerous to do that again. So don’t risk it. The two of you will just have to sit back and be good like the others. I’ll handle the titans from now on.”  
Kana put a hand on her hip while Isabel leaned on chin on her shoulder. Kana’s gaze softened as she looked upon her captain. She was starting to see more and more similarities. When she had first come to this time, they didn’t appear alike at all. But now she was seeing his transformation into a noble, and powerful captain.  
Farlan chuckled and said, “Even against the titans, the invincible Levi still prevails.”  
Isabel agreed, “That’s cause big bro is so strong!”  
“Yes he is.” Kana added, mussing her hair.  
Farlan added, “If you’re with us, it looks like we’ll manage to get home alive somehow.”  
Levi was shuffling through a bag and pulled out a small blanket to set underneath him. Kana had to resist the laugh as she realized that the ground was too dirty for him to lay on. As he dropped down, he stated, “If a large group of abnormals showed up, I’m not so sure. Anyways… Farlan…”  
Farlan looked at him curiously, but Kana noticed Levi’s gaze turn expectantly to her. Then she realized that Levi had sat down to one side with enough room for Kana to sit beside of him. With a happy grin, she trotted over and curled up against his side, laying halfway against his chest and hugging his arm. Once Kana was comfortable and Isabel was back to pouting, Levi asked, “Do you really think that guy is carrying the documents with him?”  
Levi’s voice had become very hushed and, matching his tone, Farlan whispered back, “I’m sure of it. Before, when I snuck into Erwin’s room, I searched all of the suspicious places inside of it. I hadn’t thought it would be easy to find, but there was a surprising amount of unrelated documents scattered everywhere.”  
Isabel asked, “The fact that those documents are the only ones missing means that he’s gotta be walking around with them, right?”  
“Yeah, he’s probably brought it with him outside of the walls.” Farlan agreed. “There’s no way, is there?”  
“If Erwin was trying to hide something from us outside the corps, then old man Lobov would have definitely found out something by now.” With a frown she asked, “Hey Farlan, how much of that old man’s information can we trust?”  
Farlan’s gaze was following Erwin as he walked down the hallway with Shardis. He answered, “With the exeception of our reward, he wouldn’t lie, would he? After all, Erwin did get us into the corps, just like he said.”  
Isabel, worried, said, “But what if it’s all a lie to get us arrested?”  
“From a noble’s point of view, we’re nothing more than worthless insects. If he really wanted to crush us, he would have put himself through all this trouble.” Farlan told them. He waggled his finger and said, “Come here you two.”  
Kana couldn’t help the giggle and smile when both Levi and Isabel, like a couple kids eager to learn a secret, leaned close in to Farlan as he whispered, “At any rate, our goal is to find those documents. Earlier, I saw the Commander and Erwin go over that way. While they’re gone, Isabel and I will search his belongings. Levi and Kana, until I give you the signal, watch over the corridor. If they happen to come back before I give the signal, you’ll have to keep them busy.”  
“Keep them busy…? Even if it means fighting them?” Levi asked.  
“Don’t cause a rukus!” Farlan ordered. “And no matter what, don’t kill anyone. If we lose the commander while on an expedition outside the walls, we’ll all be in big trouble.” Farlan growled. Levi didn’t look convince so he looked to Kana and asked, “Will you keep him under control?”  
Kana giggled and nodded her head. Those two took off while Kana stood up. Levi commented, “I’d rather you stay here.”  
“Huh? Why?” Kana asked.  
“I’d rather you not come into contact with the commander at all.”  
“He won’t do anything – “  
“I just don’t want you guys having any unneeded contact, got it?” Levi snapped.  
Kana sighed and her gaze softened. She leaned into him and kissed his cheek tenderly, causing one eye to close and his cheeks to turn pink in the cutest way. She whispered, “I’ll wait here for you.”  
“Th-thanks…”

Levi was getting irritated when it was taking so long for Isabel and Farlan to go through everything in the room. He really couldn’t see him engaging the Commander without turning it into a fight. Even when Erwin showed up, they still hadn’t come out yet. There was a long silence between them and finally he asked, “What are you doing here alone? Your subordinates aren’t with you?”  
Levi growled, “They’re not my subordinates.”  
Erwin replied with a weighted, “…I see.” He carried on, seeing obviously that Levi was trying to stall for some reason. It amused him. He knew exactly what was going on. “What do you think so far? Have you gotten used to the corps yet?”  
“Everyone is hot-faced and won’t shut up about titans.” He retorted.  
“Well of course. The Survey Corps appeals to those kinds of people.”  
Levi bitterly sneered, “Really now? You must be firs ton that list then.”  
“You did really well in today’s fight.” Erwin stated. “You even managed to take down an abnormal if your first battle. Your teammates can rest easier knowing that they have someone as talented as you around. And that girl with fire. I’m curious as to how she weaseled her way into the Survey Corps…”  
“None of your damn business.” Levi snapped suddenly. This caused the Commander to chuckle. The girl was obviously a weakness.  
Erwin sighed and stated, “The Survey Corps have made innumerable sacrifices. There are still too many things we don’t understand about the outside world. But if it means that humanity can take back the world, there’s no one here who wouldn’t offer up their heart for that milestone. There are no regrets for the sacrifices that have been made, not a single person. You and that woman are both assets that humanity desperately needs.”  
Levi gritted his teeth, ready to snap on the man for speaking of her like she was disposable when Isabel returned and shouted, “Sorry that took so long! I’m done changing so you can come back now!”  
Levi pushed off the wall and walked back, hissing under his breath, “What the hell kind of reason is that? It didn’t even make sense, moron.”  
“Sorry it was the best I could come up with. You guys were glaring at each other and it was creeping me out.”

Kana nuzzled up to Levi once again, but his jacket was draped over her shoulders after she had started shivering. Levi told them casually, “I figured you wouldn’t find anything. If he’s carrying the documents with him, then there’s only one way. We’ll have to kill him.”  
Farlan gasped and hissed, “Don’t say that so loud! It’s not going to be an easy thing to do…!”  
“Hey can I disturb you for a moment?”  
Kana looked up when she heard a familiar voice and her eyes widened.  
Hanji went on, “I saw it you know, the decisive moment!”  
Kana could tell by the look on everyone’s face that they thought she’d seen them rummaging in the commanders quarters. Kana squealed and said, “What are you talking about, Hanji-san?”  
Hanji frowned and said, “How do you know my name? I haven’t even introduced myself…?” She rambled, Kana could feel Levi shifted, drawing his knife slowly. Her eyes widened. He wasn’t thinking of attacking Hanji was he!? Before he could make a move, Hanji clarified, “I’m obviously talking about the moment you brought down that titan! It was really amazing! I was overwhelmed with excitement.”  
Kana giggled softly as the others relaxed, a bit. She officially introduced herself and stated that she knew their names as well, which made Kana smile more. It was funny how this Hanji went from admiring Levi so much to in six years, teasing him like none other.  
Without invitation, Hanji dropped down, sitting between Farlan and Isabel. She looked at Kana and reached her hand out and pinched her cheek and giggled, “And who is this. You weren’t introduced on stage…”  
Before Kana could answer, Levi grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand off of her face. Kana blushed softly when Hanji giggled, “Oh I see. That speaks for itself. The little girlfriend I see. But you didn’t come here from the training corps, did you, Levi? How are you so skilled with the 3DMG?”  
Despite Levi’s glare, Hanji just kept smiling. Farlan had to lean to Levi and order, “Be sociable.”  
Reluctantly, Levi grumbled, “I practiced. Nothing special.”  
“Did you learn from anyone? The first time I tried it I had a hard time balancing myself on the belts. Do you have any tricks or tips for improving?”  
“Not really.”  
Hanji sighed. “Man you’re not talkative at all huh? Even a tiny hint would be great. Come on. I’m pretty sure everyone is itching to know…” As she spoke, Kana looked past, seeing that everyone was now turned and looking at them. She said, “Everyone saw how you fought. The way you fight encourages us to believe that humanity will not lose to the titans. It was really awe-inspiring to watch you. So… by all means…”  
Kana felt a rush of color to her cheeks. These gazes were starting to look like the gazes she was used to seeing upon her captain. Her grip tightened on his arm and she turned her head so that her face rested against his shoulder. There was something gratifying about being in this time, with him, and see how his wing unfurled and how he became the man that everyone looked up to. But the man that would only ever be hers.  
Isabel was suddenly in a flurry of joy as she started talking to Hanji. She quickly said, “We are amazing, aren’t we!? Everyone is thining better of us now? Did you get a good look?”  
Hanji laughed and said, “Yes, it was awesome. Which is exactly why Levi should – “  
“Big bro is the strongest out there! Even underground he was the strongest!”  
“Really now? I’d love to know the secret to his strength, you know. Hey Levi – “  
“Big bro has always been strong!”  
Kana giggled. Every time Hanji tried to ask a question, she was diving in excitedly. And it made it even more funny when Hanji conned her into shutting up by giving her a big bag of sweets. Isabel’s weakness. Now that Isabel was silenced, Hanji asked, “So how about it? Would you be willing to let us know what goes on inside that head of yours?”  
Before answering, Levi glanced at Kana as she relaxed against him. Despite her eyes being closed and her body limp, her hold on his arm was firm. A small smile started before he glanced at Hanji and answered, “I can’t. I’m self-taught. It’s not soemthing that you can easily teach to others.”  
“But…”  
“Sorry, I’m exhausted.”  
Hanji frowned as she stood up and said, “I see. Sorry for disturbing you. Thank you Isabel and Farlan. Let’s have a nice long chat next time, okay? As she walked off, she added, “If we make it back alive, I’ll buy you lunch sometime.”  
When she was gone, Farlan said, “What a weirdo. But couldn’t you have given her some sort of easy trick to help them out?”  
“No.” Levi said sharply. “I don’t want to be responsible for anyone elses’ lives except the three of you.”  
This made Kana’s eyes widen and she looked up at him. He questioned her gaze and asked, “What?”  
How ironic that he goes from wanting nothing to do with anyone’s lives to being responsible for many of them. For saving so many. For guiding so many people. Her hand slid down and she laced her fingers with his, softly whispering, “If you ever changed your mind, I think you’d be the kind of person people would want responsible for their lives. You’re a fast thinking and you’re compassionate, but you don’t let that cloud your judgment. You’d make a great captain, you know?”  
Isabel gave a big smile and nodded her head around her cookie, but Levi just clicked his tongue and looked away. “Whatever.”  
Isabel was looking across the open area, watching Hanji walk around and speak with other soldiers. She asked, “Hey big bro. I don’t really get all that stuff about “humanity taking back the world” or whatever. These guys are actually ready to die for that sort of thing. But you’re wondering if it’s really okay for them to die for that reason… aren’t you?”  
Kana’s gaze softened. Isabel seemed to understand Levi pretty well, too. Despite having a rather absent-minded personality.

Kana shifted in the middle of the night. She had started to roll away from Levi, but the moment she did, it disturbed her slumber and she quickly returned. When she did, she felt his hand run through her hair and she looked up, whispering, “You’re still awake?”  
“Yeah.” He muttered.  
“What’s wrong?” She sat up a bit, resting her arm on his chest so she could gaze at his face.   
He smiled weakly and told her, “It’s nothing, go back to sleep, Kana.”  
“Not if you don’t rest as well, Rivi-kun.” She whispered. “I’ll stay up with you.”  
“I’m just trying to think of the safest way to kill him and then return alive.” Levi told her, gently running his fingers through her hair. “Nothing I want to burden you with.”  
Kana climbed a little more up his body until she hovered just and inch over him, her nose brushing his. “Stop thinking about things like that right now or you’ll be too tired to get anything done.”  
“What am I supposed to think about?” He asked, arching a brow.  
Kana smiled and tipped her head, kissing him deeply, whispering to his lips, “Think about after we get home.” His lips curved up, reflecting her smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently rolled her over. Just like he a drug he was addicted to, one dose and he forgot about everything else.  
Dammit all…  
“I love you, Kana…” He whispered.


	110. Resistance

Days turned into a couple weeks that Tsuki continued trying to pinpoint their missing friend. Even with all the extra energy that was given to Amaak and herself because of the Silrause, she struggled to concentrate and keep up the task.  
But finally, one day, something different happened. As she was surfing through time, it felt like something physically hit her in the chest.  
Jean gasped and clutched at his shirt. “Ow… what the hell?”  
Eren looked over and asked, “You okay?”  
Tsuki gritted her teeth and suddenly a wind started to pick up around them. “Y-yeah. Well maybe.”  
Levi and Hanji rushed over. Levi demanded, “What’s going on?”  
“I don’t know!” Tsuki shouted over the roaring wind. “Something weird hit me and now… my whole body is sore…”  
Jean raised his hand. “I can vouch for that. It hurts.”  
Hanji asked, “Should you stop?” She held her arm up over her forehead to keep her bangs from whipping into her eyes.  
“No she shouldn’t.” Meria interjected, running up to them. “Time isn’t responding well wherever you’re at. You’re most likely close to a previous warp point.”  
Levi’s eyes widened. “So she’s close to Kana?”  
“Maybe.” Meria stated.  
Tsuki turned back to the warp she had opened and continued peering into it. It was hard to see what was going on. “It’s so foggy… I can’t see anything.”  
Hanji shouted, “That’s it then! The expedition failed because we lost visibility out there!”  
Tsuki cursed. “How am I supposed to see her through this?” Lightning struck down near them and made majority of them jump.  
Rain began to pour heavily.  
Meria nodded her head. “Time is definitely broken here. We’re impacting both timelines right now.”  
“You just have to try.” Hanji stated. “You can do it, Tsuki. You’re so close.”  
Jean placed his hands gently on Tsuki’s shoulders. “I’m right here supporting you. We all are.”  
Tsuki concentrated. Through the fog she could see several objects moving in formation. As her visual broke through, she could see it more clearly. Side by side was two red heads on horses, charging through the slop and mud. And one of them was Kana. Tsuki screamed, “I see her! I found Kana!”  
All of them gasped and Lean shouted, “Way to go, Tsuki!”  
Jean told her, “Let’s hurry up and pull her out! This storm is getting dangerous!” On cue, a couple trees around them crumpled under the power of the wind.  
Meria started forward. “Here, I’ll help you – “  
Demi intercepted and in her hands, Sarthis formed into a scythe. “Don’t take another step closer.”  
Levi barked, “Demi, what are you doing?”  
She didn’t back down and met the furious gaze of the once red-headed woman. To her, she demanded, “Meria. Tell me your real motive. Tell me why you’re here.”  
“I’ve told you a thousand times – “ Meria started.  
Demi snarled, “Why do you want to kill Kana!?”  
Meria’s eyes widened. “What?”  
Armin shouted, “Have you lost your mind? Why – “  
“I watched you!” Demi snarled. “I’ve had two memories return to me of you. The first one… of you teaching us when we were children. Just like you are now. When I saw it… I thought you were trustworthy. But another memory…I watched you kill Kana right in front of me. On this spot.”  
Instinctively everyone began to tense up and at the same moment, Hanji and Levi drew their swords. Levi demanded, “Is this true?”  
Meria was staring in shock at Demi. “The box wasn’t closed then. You saw her.”  
Demi’s eyes widened. “You’re not even going to deny it?”  
“No!” Meria gasped. “You don’t understand. You don’t remember enough. That wasn’t…That wasn’t Kana.”  
Demi hesitated. Again with this Kana not being Kana nonsense. “Answer me something, Meria. Did you take our memories?”  
Hanji narrowed her eyes at Demi. “Why do you think that she took your memories?”  
“None of us remember her!” Demi shouted. “None of us remembered where we came from but we each made contact with her. Now tell me, did you or did you not take them from us!?”  
“You were children.” Meria whispered. “You didn’t need the memories of what happened that day.”  
Demi screamed, “You son of a bitch!” She raised Sarthis and charged at Meria but the woman casually held her hand out and a bubble formed in front of Demi and she disappeared, only to reappear several feet in the sky and hit the ground away from her.  
Meria started to turn but now everyone was surrounding her, their swords raised. Hanji adjusted her glasses. “So… what of your story is true and what isn’t? No more vague answers. No more lies. Who are you and what do you want?”  
Tsuki and Jean were still focusing on keeping the portal open. On the other side, Kana was moving too quickly for her to really be able to get to her. Looking over her shoulder, she told Jean, “I have to reach in and grab her. I don’t think she can see the portal.”  
Jean gritted his teeth. “Okay. Be careful not to fall in yourself.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ll hold onto you from this side.”  
Tsuki nodded.  
Levi stepped towards Meria. “Was all of this a set up to bring Kana back so you could kill her? Is that the real reason she doesn’t trust you?”  
“Of course not!” Meria shouted. “You’ve all got it wrong!”  
Eren growled, “So you’re accusing Demi of lying?”  
“She’s not lying.” Meria insisted. “She honestly believes what she saw. Everything she said is true. She watched me kill someone here. But that person wasn’t Kana and they aren’t dead!”  
“Nothing you’re saying makes sense.” Hanji snarled. “We’re going to take you in for questioning.”  
“No. I can’t stay here.” Meria argued. Before she could say anything else, Tsuki started to scream.  
Jean shouted, “Guys help!”  
Tsuki was reaching into the portal but the second her arm had crossed through it, all the wind started to go the opposite direction and it began sucking everything in. Blasts of light were shooting out from the portal and going in all directions. Jean’s feet were sliding on the stone slab and he was close to losing his hold.  
Demi, who was closest because of Meria, jumped up and grabbed Jean’s arm and pulled him back, but she started to slide, too. Eren rushed over and joined her, grabbing Jean’s other arm and Demi’s waist. “Shit! This wind is too strong!”  
Tsuki screamed, “Kana! Take my hand!”  
Everyone else dropped their weapons and rushed over, grabbing onto the next person they could to keep Tsuki from sliding into the portal.  
Demi snarled, “Hurry up Tsuki! Or we’re all gonna get sucked in!”  
Tsuki shook her head. “She’s not listening to me! I can see her but she’s not looking at me!”  
“Get her fucking attention!” Demi ordered.  
Jean’s teeth were gnashing but he felt like his body was being torn in two. “Tsuki… we can’t hold on much longer.”  
Tsuki took a deep breath and screamed Kana’s name as loud as she could.  
The red head finally looked over from where she was sitting in what looked like a supply cart. Tsuki gasped with relief. “Guys, I got her attention.” She turned back to the portal. “Kana! Grab my arm! I’ll pull you back!”  
For some reason, there wasn’t relief or excitement on Kana’s face. No. To her it looked like she was horrified. Tsuki gritted her teeth and reached further in, getting her hand on Kana’s arm but she yanked away and shouted, “I can’t go back right now guys!”  
Tsuki felt fear claw it’s way to the surface. “What do you mean you can’t!? You have to! Kana! We need you back here, please!” Tsuki reached her other arm in, getting her other hand on Kana’s bloody and torn poncho. Wait. What? Why was she covered in blood? But she had a hold of her and she wasn’t going to give her up. Gripping tightly, she yanked with all of her might.


	111. The First Expedition

Kana had to say she was kind of excited to be a part of the very first long-distance formation implemented. She remembered using it on her first mission. But now it put hers to shame that Levi’s first mission was the actual first time the formation was used. Levi commented, “Pretty impressive.”  
“The entire battalion is moving as one.” Levi stated.  
“We sure have changed course a lot.” Isabel commented. “Must be a lot of titans.”  
“Then we don’t stop moving.” Farlan said hurriedly.  
Kana smiled at him. He was such a pessimist. As they rolled along, she glanced up, happening to see a dark cloud suddenly rolling in across the sky. Drop by drop the rain began to fall from the clouds and Kana tensed up. It wasn’t until that very moment that she remembered that this mission wasn’t full of happiness and excitement. That the whole reason she was here was because something terrible was going to happen. That realization hit her blindingly hard now.  
Within moments the drizzle becam a downpour, drowning the whole field in the murky gray. Farlan raised his arm up over his face and shouted, “I can’t see anything in front of me!”  
Levi was looking around quickly in the rain, reaching his hand out when he saw an object close to him. He caught it, pulling on the rein until Kana and her horse were pressed up against his. His gaze softened with relief.  
Somewhere in the storm, the captain shouted something, but it couldn’t be heard. Levi yelled to Farlan and Isabel, “Don’t get separated!”  
As the rain continued on, a fog began to roll up off the ground, causing the visibility to dwindle even more. Levi kept Kana’s horse close to his but he was constantly looking over at Isabel and Farlan. If they slowed too much, they’d be titan bait. If they moved too quickly, they could lose the entire squad.  
Isabel asked, “What the hell are we gonna do?”  
“All we can do is keep moving.” Farlan answered, “I’m sure we haven’ gotten too far from the rest of the squad. We just have to keep going forward blindly and hope that this fog will clear up fast.”  
“But the way things are going now, the flares are gonna be useless no matter how much time passes!”  
“As long as squad leader Fragon’s noise rounds still work, I bet we can find the others quickly enough.”  
“Our scouting capacity is ruined. Our field of vision is a few meters at best. It’s as if you can hear the titans breaths from every direction.” Isabel mumbled, her body shivering with fear. Her eyes widened suddenly and she shouted, “Kana-san…! If we do that thing again… we can fly and see ahead…!”  
“No!” Kana told her sharply. “We can’t do it again. Especially not this soon.”  
“But I’m fine!” Isabel shrieked.  
“The answer is no!” Kana retorted. “I know you want to help but I’m not putting your life at risk like that!”  
For a while they rode in silence before Farlan chuckled, “Hey guys… if Erwin gets eaten up by Titans, there’s no way we can get our hands on those documents.” Before he could say anything else, there was a loud echo and he said, “That was a noise round! It’s not too far off. We can probably catch up with everyone… but… Levi?”  
For several long moments, Levi was silent. Then finally he said, “I’m going alone. The rest of you get back with Fragon and the squad. I’ll get my hands on those documents. Besides the one who is going to kill him is me. I won’t let a damn titan get him first.”  
Kana’s eyes were wide. There was no reason to rush things in this dangerous situation. They all needed to return to the main squad and -   
“Big bro, I’m going too!”  
“Isabel…” Levi snapped. “Who do you think is more likely to become titan food? Me? Or Fragon and Sayran? With all of you together, your chances for survival are much higher.”  
Kana started to open her mouth, but Farlan shouted exactly what she was thinking, “Use your head! The fog will clear up if we just wait it out a while!”  
“And you think the titans will wait?”  
“It doesn’t matter! Just listen to me!” Farlan ordered. “We have no idea where the titans might come from in a situation like this! It’s too dangerous to be out there on your own!” Kana’s eyes widened as they yelled and she remembered the conversation she’d had with Farlan when they were in the underground. How he said he was too scared to stand up to Levi. To deny him his orders. She realized that he was doing it now. He was trying to help Levi see what he couldn’t see. To make the right decision.  
Levi shouted back at him, “I don’t need to hear this shit from you! I can do it alone! Just trust me!”  
After several moments of silence, Farlan demanded, “Is that an order, Levi?”  
Levi’s eyes widened. “And order… what are you saying..? I just… You guys are… I want to – “  
Suddenly Farlan started laughing and he said, “Alright then. I’ll trust you.”  
“Make sure you come back to us, Bro!” Isabel told him, then looked at Kana. She said, “Come on, Kana-san.”  
Kana looked quickly back at Levi and was waiting for her to turn her horse the other way. Her voice cracked as she asked him, “Come back with us, Rivialle. Don’t go.”  
“I’ll be fine.” He told her. “We just need those documents and everything will be fine.”  
“They’re not worth it.” Kana said, “They’re not worth anything! Let’s just all go back! Don’t do this! Rivi – “  
He leaned to her, kissing her suddenly through the rain and whispered, “Go back to the safety of the squad. I’ll be right back.”  
“Rivi-kun…” Her voice was cracking. This was a bad idea. But she knew she need to stay with Farlan and Isabel. It was their lives in danger. Not his. “Please hurry.” She reluctantly told him before following quickly after Isabel and Farlan.  
They turned the horses and trotted quickly back towards the inside, hoping to catch up with the squad soon.  
It wasn’t much longer that they grew close enough to see the others through the fog. Fragon gasped and shouted, “There you are! Are you alright?” Kana’s gaze softened a bit that was his first question. Despite her problems with him, he was a captain after all.  
He asked, “What happened to Levi?”  
“We lost him in the fog.” Farlan answered.  
“If he failed to notice the noise round… then he probably won’t make it back…” Sayran stated.  
“No fucking way! Big bro will come back!” Isabel shrieked.  
Kana started to scold Isabel for getting too worked up too much when she heard a noise. She turned her head just in time to see a massive face peering down at her. A scream left her lips just as the hand that belong to the body swung around, colliding with the front of her horse and flipping her over and straight into the mud. Kana gasped and coughed, looking up quickly as another titan was throwing its hand down towards her. She barely rolled out of the way as Isabel used her gear to swing up towards the titan. She was going in to cut it open, but another got in her way and she was just barely able to get out of the way in time. In the same moment, Sayran was screaming as he tried leading his horse through the attacks. There were too many and even with her slayer vision, she couldn’t pin point all of them.  
Isabel slammed back into her and ordered, “We have to do it! We have to or they’re going to die!”  
Against her better judgment, she knew Isabel was right. They were all going to die at this rate. Kana threw her hands up and Isabel melded into her body. As soon as she felt the precious weapon inside of her, the jumpsuit covered her body once again and flames unfurled from her back. But as soon as they did, she was blindsided by an elbow. It jerked back, slamming into her and throwing her straight into a horse and then a tree. Kana gasped and gagged on the air, quickly trying to recooperate herself.  
“Kana get up! Hurry!” Isabel screamed at her. But she was already panting. The rain was hard on the flames and they were trying to regenerate. They didn’t have long.  
Kana shot back to her feet and flew into the air, slamming into a titan and cutting it’s neck before she spiraled back to the ground. It collapsed, but she saw another titan had grabbed a hold of Sayran and was raising him into the air. Isabel screamed for her to help him. Kana turned quickly in the mud. The adrenalin wasn’t helping. Her body was being worn down quickly from the shock and the panic but she didn’t have time to think. She heard the captain scream from somewhere behind her, but she couldn’t do two things at once. She jumped into the air and a long red and silver fencing sword formed in her hand. As she spun around, she sliced right through the titan’s arm, freeing SAyran. He dropped to the ground and scurried away.  
Kana had barely taken a breath when another tight wrapped his hand around her and began to squeeze. Desperately, Kana pressed out against it, struggling with all her might. “Shit… l-let go…!” Kana let a scream when she felt her body starting to give to the pressure. She already be broken had she not already faced the Female Titan. Finally Kana got her wrist twisted up enough and she cut through the bastards hand. She flipped up and around behind it’s head and cut out the nape. Looking over, just in time as SAyran was shoved into a titans mouth and swallowed. Isabel screamed in her head but Kana couldn’t do anything.  
She was already running across the mud, slipping and sliding when she saw Farlan nearly run into a titan. He jerked his horse to the side, narrowly missing getting scooped up by the monster. As it’s other hand came around, Kana slammed into it’s palm, the fire around her body burning it’s hand away. She gasped when it suddenly pulled back but then she realized why. Another titan had already scooped up Farlan. He was swinging his blade, but it wasn’t doing anything. He couldn’t put any power behind the blows. Kana let out a scream and shot up, slicing through the titan’s hand. She grabbed Farlan and ordered him, “Don’t you dare… give up on me, Farlan. Remember your promise…!”  
Kana gasped when they were all blind-sided by another titan trying to grab them, but it fell in the mud. The hand came around, slamming into Kana and she heard the disgusting sound a body being torn apart. It was the sound of shredding paper, rice crispies being crushed, and puddy being slammed against the wall. Kana hit head first into a tree and tumbled to the ground, gasping and panting. She looked up, through the rain and fog, seeing Farlan’s body… in two pieces across the ground. She pressed her face into the mud, nearly throwing up as she struggled to get to her feet. Her body felt like it weighed a thousand more pounds than it should and she realized why. Her aura was flickering out. Quickly. Kana gasped, “Isabel. We have to separate now. And try to get away.”  
She realized she couldn’t even get through to Isabel right now. She was screaming and crying out for Farlan, trying to will him back to life. Kana shakily got to her feet and looked around. There were five titans around her. One started for her, but she jumped out of the way and ran up it’s arm. She was going for it’s neck when another swung, knocking her right back off. She gasped as she hit the ground, rolling to a stop. Her body convulsed several times before she felt Isabel suddenly peel away from her. Kana lifted herself up, looking down at Isabel. “Can you move?”  
Isabel was still crying and she hoarsely whispered, “No. I can’t… even feel my body… Kana-san. Please… run…”  
Kana looked over her shoulder a titan came running at them. She picked Isabel up in one arm and started to move, but she slipped in the mud. She gasped when Fragon swung around and was able to kill the titan before it reached her. “Can you guys get out of here?” He asked.  
Kana panted and looked at Isabel. Her eyes were glazed over and her skin was so pale. She had used up so much energy. Kana shook her head. “You get out of here. We’ll figure something out.”  
“I won’t leave you behind! I’ll – “ Fragon gasped as he was suddenly grabbed between the teeth of another titan. Kana let out a painful scream as blood splattered across the ground. The titan behind it tried stepped over it and Kana gasped when it’s foot came hurtling down towards them. She braced herself on the ground and gasped when she felt the sole of the titan’s foot meet with her other forearm. She gasped as it felt like her whole body broke under the pressure but she desperately held the titan appendage up from crushing Isabel. She could feel her body slowly sinking into the mud as the titan continued trying to put pressure on her.  
A fragile, weak voice rose up from under her, “Kana-san… stop trying to protect me.”  
Kana looked at her and growled, “Don’t be… an idiot… I can’t… just let you die. I can… push this thing off.”  
“Kana-san needs that energy to run. So she can live.”  
Kana felt tears in her eyes and she shouted at her, “We’re both going to live so stop talking like that!”  
“You were right. It was a bad idea.” Isabel whispered weakly. “I can’t even feel my own heartbeat. But for a moment… I was strong. I was able to protect people along side of Kana-san. Do you think… big bro would be proud?”  
“Not if you die idiot!” Kana was sobbing now and her arm was trembling. “You have to live through this with me… so we can tell Levi how strong you got… Isabel…!”  
Isabel, very slowly, like an elderly woman trying to function, pulled her bracelet off her wrist, and put it upon Kana’s. “Promise me… something?”  
“Isabel…”  
“Promise to always love and take care of Big bro, okay? He’s so happy with you… and it makes me happy too. You’re good for him. So please always stay with him and help him?”  
“Isabel… please stop…”  
“Maybe one day you two should even get married. That’d be cool…”  
Kana choked on her sobs. Knowing she couldn’t hold out much longer. Her whole body was trembling with effort. “We’re going to, Isabel…”  
“Will you invite me?”  
“Of course. You’ll be my maid of honor, idiot.”  
“I wanna wear a really pretty dress.”  
“The prettiest.”  
“Kana-san… I really love you and Big Brother. I had so much fun.”  
Kana gasped as Isabel closed her eyes and smiled softly. But at the same moment, she felt the sickening pop in her arm and suddenly her whole body went limp and the titan foot slammed down on the both of them.

Levi had been pushing his horse as hard as he could to get back to the battle. But after stretching itself out so hard, when it slipped in the mud, the worthless animal tumbled down into the ground and rolled around. Levi jumped off and was racing as fast as he could towards where he heard the sounds of battle. In the process of running, she had heard several screams and the made his gut tightened when he recognized them as Kana’s. His eyes widened when he ran past the two halves of Farlan’s body and his teeth gritted in agony.  
Looking ahead, the new sight horrified him even more. A titan was trying to slam it’s foot down on Kana and Isable and he didn’t know how, but she was holding the limb up, but Isabel nor her were able to move. He tried using his gear to reel himself in faster, to save them, but before he was close enough, he watched both of his girls disappear under the weight. A gasp mixed with a shriek of pain escaped him as he screamed their names.  
In a blur of rage he flew straight forward and cut the titan off completely at the ankle and watched the damn thing fall over. Once it hit the ground, he sliced out it’s neck and then turned back to the foot. His body was shaking as he kicked it away, not knowing why he was hoping for anything, but his eyes widened when he saw Kana slowly lift herself up from the mud.  
She was gasping and coughing and he breathed, “K-Kana…”  
Kana opened her eyes, but she was facing the ground. Or more specifically, Isabel’s flattened body. A scream left her throat as she realized she was covered in her blood and broken bones and pieces of the person she’d held so dear. This had to be a nightmare. This was a bad dream. They weren’t dead. She couldn’t even think straight as she tried wiping the blood off of her. She could even taste it.  
Levi rushed down to her and wrapped his arms around her body. He turned her around and cupped her face, ordering her, “Stay with me, Kana. We’re still here. We have to get through this. I’m going to protect you. I swear it.” His teeth were gritted as he turned around. There were four titans left. Making sure to keep himself between them and her, he went straight in for the kills on all of them.  
Kana stared at the ground as the fight turned to background noise. Isabel’s body was broken in several places. But despite being white a sheet, she was still smiling. Kana coughed and choked the pain starting all over. This beautiful girl was never going to ask her to read her anything again, or keep her up all night with silly jokes, or cheer obnoxiously for them when they did stupid things. She’d broken her promise to Farlan. He was never going to write that book. Isabel was never going to read it.  
She had failed entirely, at everything. She slowly collapsed to her knees, but before she could drop completely down, Levi caught her, pulling her into his arms. His grip on her this time was tight enough that it hurt, but it was fine. She needed to feel something.  
He pressed his face to her neck and his voice cracked as the tears racked him as well. “I’m so sorry… This is all my fault. I made the wrong choice. I let all of you down. All of them are dead because of me. But I… I didn’t lose you. I still… have you… Please forgive me, Kana…”  
Numbly her hands moved up, slowly wrapping around him. Her voice cracked and she whispered, “I felt… both of them die. I felt both of their bodies break… but I couldn’t do a damn thing.”  
Levi’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “Kana, stop. Don’t…” His voice was broken. He had nothing he could say. All he could do was hold her and try to fix what he’d broken. But there was no fixing this. There was nothing that could be mended.  
One stupid choice and their happiness, their life, it was shattered. Their family was gone.  
Through the rain a voice called out, “Are there any survivors!?”  
Kana looked up as Levi half turned, looking as Erwin and Mike rushed up on their horses. Erwin asked, “Are you two the only survivors? Did you kill them all alone?”  
Before he could get answers or do anything, Levi ripped away from Kana and threw himself at Erwin, slamming him off the horse and throwing him to the ground. Kana gasped and shouted, “Rivialle!”  
Mike was off his horse in a second but Levi glared back at him and pointed one of his swords, snarling, “Back off.”  
Purely terrified, Mike withdrew his weapon and stood down. Turning back to Erwin, he snarled, “Erwin. I’m going to fucking kill you. That’s the only reason I’m still standing here.”  
“Your friends. Must have died.” Erwin stated. “I see.” He reached into his chest pouch and pulled out a small set of papers. He said, “These are the documents concerning Nicholas Lovoff.”  
Kana gasped, starting towards them when Mike grabbed her and yanked her back. She hissed and tried kicking him, but he wouldn’t let go.  
Meanwhile Erwin threw the papers down on the ground. The documents were empty. “Sorry that it took so long.” Erwin stated.  
“You bastard… you knew…” Levi snarled, but he looked at the blank papers and his eyes widened more. He snarled, “What the hell is this?”  
“It was a bluff.” Erwin answered. “I knew that Lovoff was embezzling funds. Using what was left from our suspended expeditions over the past several years. I wanted definitive proof, enough to convict him, so I spread false information about him. Lovoff is a vigilant man. So I figured he would try to do something in order to confirm the existence of the documents first. Sure enough, he approached the three of you with the request. Making a move would surely leave a trace behind, so it didn’t take long for me to follow the trail and get my hands on the evidence. The more he acted on his own, the better I was able to gather the evidence I needed.”  
“If you knew all that… why did you make us join the Survey Corps?” Levi demanded.  
“For one thing, your fighting skills are truly outstanding. The other reason is because I wanted to use you, the ones Lovoff made a deal with in order to throw him off. But none of it matters anymore. The real documents are now in possession of Supreme commander Zacklay. It’s all over for Lovoff.”  
Kana’s eyes widened. The documents they’d been chasing. Everything that this team had been working for was fake. It was a lie. There was never any hope for them. Those dreams, that hope, everything. Everything was gone. Kana felt her eyes starting to water up. All of this was useless. They had been so happy in the underground. Their life had been grand, it was a struggle at times, but they had so much fun.  
Now it was gone.  
Kana gritted her teeth. “You’re a terrible person, Erwin Smith… terrible…”  
Levi snarled, “They threw their lives away for nothing! You just dragged us into your worthless schemes… but now I’m gonna drag you down, too!” He raised his hand, going to swing his blade.  
Kana screamed, “Rivialle, stop!”  
Levi’s grip faltered and he looked back at her and sharply demanded, “Why the fuck should I!? Because of him – “  
“I don’t want to see anymore death today… please… if you’re going to kill him… will you wait till later…” Kana whispered. She could feel Isabel’s blood drying on her skin and it made her feel sick to her stomach. She just wanted to make it all go away.  
Levi’s eyes widened before softening and he nodded his head. He looked back at Erwin who was glaring at him.  
“Worthless schemes!?” Erwin snarled. “Who was it? Who was it that killed my subordinates and your friends?! Was it me? Or was it you? Even if you had gone together with them to ambush me do you really think that they would’ve survived unharmed?”  
“You’re right… my arrogance… and my own shitty fucking pride…”  
“No you’re wrong! It’s the titans!” Erwin shouted. “Where did the titans come from? Why do they exist? Why do they devour humans? I don’t have the answers. None of us do. Limited by our ignorance, we’ll continue to be devoured by the titans! If we just stay shut behind the walls, we are never going to escape this nightmare. Take a good look around you! No matter how far you go there aren’t any walls here. In this wide open space, I believe there is something there, illuminating our despair. But there are those who seek to prevent us from venturing beyond the walls. They are consumed by selfish thoughts of their own losses and gains from behind the walls where it’s safe! It’s only natural. During the past 100 years, hindered by the walls, the eyes of humanity have been clouded. They cannot see the landscape that lies on the other side. But what about you, Levi? Will you let your eyes remain clouded? You can kill m and return to the darkness of the underground. But we will not give up our journey outside the walls. Fight for the Survey Corps, instead Levi. Humanity needs your strength!”  
Levi lowered his sword before he tossed the blade onto the ground. He said simply, “I’m not making any deal this time.”  
Kana’s gaze softened and she slipped away from Mike and walked up behind Levi, touching his shoulder. He turned his head, giving her a long look. He took her hand from his shoulder and kept it laced with his.  
Erwin sighed softly and said, “You’ll have a ways to walk, but the two of you can hitch a ride on one of the supply carts. But we need to hurry before the weather clears and titans return.”

Even once they were sitting in the back of the supply cart, Levi didn’t let her go once. He didn’t say anything or outwardly show any signs, but she could see that he was every bit was broken up as she was. She brushed her fingers along the side of his face and he looked up at her. He was leaning back against her, in her lap, his body resting upon hers. Her fingernails soothed him and gave him a slight distraction, which he appreciated no matter how minor. He rolled over and reached up, resting his hand at the back of her neck and whispered, “At least I didn’t lose you…”  
Kana’s gaze was warm as she assured him, “I told you. I’ll always come back. You can’t get rid of me.”  
Levi nodded slightly before relaxing more. His hand slid down, finding her hand again as he nuzzled his head against her chest. They were both covered in blood and filthy, but her embrace was so warm and calming. Despite the turmoil inside of him, she made him feel, almost calm.  
But his ears were ringing. He should have been hearing Farlan scolding him for being reckless, or Isabel laughing and teasing either him or Kana. He felt like everything they had been working towards was lost. The only hope he had left, the only bright spot in his life, was this crimson angel that was holding him. As long as he had her… he could survive.  
Kana watched as Levi relaxed. Even his eyes started to drift closed. Her heart warmed. She would never tell him, but he looked like a child. She had never seen her captain so fragile and so vulnerable. But she was glad that she could be here, to make things easier for him. To help alleviate him in anyway. She started to whisper something to him when she heard her name called.  
Her eyes widened when she recognized the voice.  
Looking quickly over her shoulder, she saw a strange distortion in the air along side of the supply cart. Tsukiko was reaching her arm through, reaching out to her. Tsukiko screamed, “Kana! Grab my arm! I’ll pull you back!”  
It took her several moments to realize what she was seeing. Tsukiko, after a year, had found where she was and was able to break through time. Levi sat up quickly, looking back at Kana and asked, “What is that?”  
Kana pursed her lips and whispered, “That’s… my home. They want me to come back.” She gasped when Tsuki was able to get a hold of her arm but Kana quickly pulled away and said, “I can’t go back right now guys!”  
“What do you mean you can’t!? You have to! Kana! We need you back here, please!” Tsuki begged.  
Kana looked between Tsuki and turned back to Levi. But Tsuki wasn’t letting go of her. She had a hold of her now and was pulling her back. Kana felt her eyes watering, trying to get every second she could. “Listen to me, Rivialle, I will come back! I swear. I’m not leaving for good. Just have patience. Six years. I’ll see you again in six years.”  
Levi was trying to put on a brave face. It sounded like she was needed back home, so he wanted her to return there, but of all the times. He felt like he was losing everything. She was all he had left and she was disappearing before his eyes. “Okay…” He whispered.  
Kana reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him back to her and kissing him deeply. She whispered, “I love you, Rivi-kun… please don’t ever forget. I swear to you, I will come back.”  
His hand brushed down the side of her face and he whispered, “I’ll hold you to that, Kana.”  
A moment later, the vortex was gone and with it, so was his beloved. His hand absently touched the air, as though he could find the hole and bring her back, but no, she was truly gone.  
When they had returned, he walked out of the area where soldiers were scrambling around. Erwin stopped when he saw him and calmly asked, “Where’s your counterpart?”  
“I don’t know…” Levi answered and walked on. “But she’ll be back…”


	112. The Promise

Tsukiko gasped as she yanked on Kana’s body. For some reason she didn’t understand, the Slayer was fighting against her. She could hear her saying something to someone. She didn’t know what was so important that she didn’t want to return, but she was needed here. They needed her to guide them! Her own energy was pulsing around her and she felt her body trying to get sucked in, but Demi, Leah, Eren, Jean, Hange, Levi, all of them were grounding her, helping her to pull their friend back to their reality. Finally, with a yank, all together, she felt her body and Kana’s move through the warp. She came down but Kana went flying. Once they were both cleared, she stripped her power and the portal disappeared. All of them dropped to the ground, panting.  
Dami rolled over, off her shoulder, barely able to get her own breath. “Did we do it?” She looked across the ground, seeing Kana laying several yards away, but he wasn’t moving. More than that though, she was completely soaked in blood. She was hurt, bad. Before she could get up, Tsuki ran passed her and to her best friend. Since she was taking care of her, Demi whipped around, to face Meria again, but the woman was gone. Her eyes were wide. If she wanted to kill Kana, why did she leave the moment that she came back?  
Tsuki rolled Kana’s limp body over and started looking everywhere for her injury so she could heal it. “Kana? Where's your injury, Kana? Are you okay? Say something!"  
Hanji and Levi stood up slowly, watching Tsuki and Kana intently. After a moment, Hanji peeled her eyes away to look at Levi. His silver blue eyes were wide and frozen. She could imagine why. After six years, this was the moment after. This was the conclusion. In all the timelines, this would be the first moment that both of them knew their histories together. Even at this moment, Hanji didn’t know what had actually happened to Levi and the rest of them in that rainstorm. When they went in, he, Kana, Isabel, and Farlan were all full of hope. After, it was just a single dead man walking that returned. She’d never had the courage to ask him, she just assumed that Kana had died with Isabel and Farlan.  
Tsuki continued trying to figure out how to help Kana. She cupped her cheeks and lifted her face so she was looking at her. It was then that she realized her eyes were open, but there was just no life in them. She wasn’t really looking at Tsuki at all.  
Kana raised her hand and gently cupped Tsuki’s shoulder. “You’re okay.” Tsuki whispered with relief. But her friends hand was shaking in her grip. Her empty gaze swept over all of them, dancing one by one. Kana panted and lowered her head. In the next moment, she pressed her head against Tsuki’s chest and began to whimper. Tsuki gripped her shoulders. “Kana? Are you in pain? Kana…” Suddenly the redhead began to scream into her shirt and Tsuki held her tight. She could feel the tears dampening the fabric and she felt awful for whatever was wrong. “Kana talk to me! Please! I want to help!”  
Demi walked over to them and knelt down beside them. She placed her hand on Kana’s back and whispered, “Tsuki, she’s not injured. This isn’t her blood.”  
Tsuki begged to the screams, “Kana… talk to me, please…”  
As the screams continued, Levi had to turn his head away, his expression stitched with agony as he listened to her suffering. Hanji wanted to help him, but she knew there was nothing that she coudld do. So instead, she rushed over to Tsuki and Demi and helped them to soothe Kana, “Shh… shhh…. Sweetie. It’s over. You’re back home now. You’re safe and you don’t’ have to think about it anymore. It’s over.”  
Kana’s screams softened into choking sobs.  
Tsuki’s eyes trembled. Just what had happened to her? What had she done to her best friend?  
Hanji looked up at the others. “I think we should go back. We’ve got Kana back now, so I think we should return to the cabin.” Her gaze slowly drifted over. “Right…Levi?”  
The captain was slow to react. He nodded his head slowly. “I… think so…”  
They tacked up their horses and were on their way. Demi pulled her horse up next to Tsuki’s as they walked. Kana was in Tsuki’s lap but Demi was surveying her. Blood covered her from head to toe, but there was mud and…bone…?  
The entire way back, Kana didn’t utter a word and in turn, neither did anyone else. It was the quietest journey they’d ever had. When they returned, Demi helped Tsuki to lower Kana to the ground. Her limp body wouldn’t stand alone so she kept her arms around her, steadying her. Once Tsuki was on her feet, Demi stated, “I’m going to take her and help her wash up.”  
Tsuki blinked in surprise. “You are?”  
Demi looked down. “I just…I feel I should.”  
Tsuki felt a bit of relief wash over her. It looked like in this situation, at least, that Demi was setting side the differences she and Kana had felt. Was it because she blamed herself?  
Demi took Kana around behind the cabin where one of the hoses were tied up for them to use as a shower. She frowned as she pulled off Kana’s clothes – what little there was left of the blood-clotted, torn, tathered fabric. She turned the water on and started washing her up.  
Demi gently asked, "Can you speak yet?"   
"It hurts..."   
"What hurts?" Demi asked, moving around in front of her. Kana's wild strands were all over her face and shoulders. "I can't help if you don't - "   
"I... did something terrible..."  
Demi's gaze softened, but no matter what questions she asked next, Kana didn't answer her. Her body just remained limp as Demi helped her finish washing up and drying her off. Once she was clothed, she returned her to her room where she slept for two days.  
Tsuki walked slowly down to the kitchen where everyone was eating breakfast. Leah looked up at her and asked, “How is she?”  
The blue slayer’s lips pursed and then turned into a frown. “She’s… not awake yet this morning… she didn’t eat much from last night.”  
“Has she said what happened yet?” Leah insisted.  
Demi shook her head. “She won’t say much, just… mumbled words every now and then. She’s… really messed up.”  
Hanji glanced over when she saw Levi stand up and walk away from the table. She insisted, “Guys… don’t keep pressing her, okay? The mission she came back from was a slaughter.”  
“The first expedition was?” Tsuki asked.  
“It was the first exepedition using the long range formation.” Hanji answered. “Levi and I were both on it. The formation, though it works excellently in most situation, it… fails if there’s a bad storm. We were left separated and blind. I don’t remember the exact count of casualties but… we lost so many. It was… gruesome and we weren’t able to bring any bodies back. Please… don’t ask her to explain that nightmare…”  
All of them looked down and remained quiet.

More days passed.  
Demi opened the door to Kana’s room and was surprised to see her sitting up. Her knees were pulled into her chest and she stared at the red bracelet on her wrist. Slowly, Demi walked in and sat down at the edge of the bed and looked at her. “Kana…?”  
“There… aren’t words to describe what I feel…”  
Demi frowned more. “I’m sorry, Kana. It’s my fault that it all happened. I should have – “  
“Why waste the effort to bring me back?” Kana asked slowly, her empty gaze drifting up to her.  
“Why?” Demi asked, aghast. She insisted, “Because we need you here.”  
“I was needed there.” Kana argued. “You guys didn’t want me here. That was clear.”  
Demi looked down, gripping the sheets of the bed. “I’m sorry. I know it seemed that way. But… things were happening that we couldn’t justify. And when I was around you, this feeling…of dread and foreboding just washed over me…and your story wasn’t matching what I saw and – “ Demi could see the defeat in Kana’s eyes and she sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t get that feeling from you right now. Mostly cause you look so pitiful. We were the closest of friends… I saw it in one of my memories. I want to remain close.”  
Kana stared at her feet, wrapping her arms around her legs and hugging them into herself more. Pressing her face to her knees, she whispered, “I can only tell you this. Because… you’re the only one that knows.”  
Demi sat up in front of her, crossing her legs, waiting for the red slayer to speak. Kana whispered, “Tsuki happened to send me straight to Levi 6 years ago. That year I spent there…I stayed with him and his closest friends, Farlan and Isabel. It was so nice…it… felt like family, and a home and for most of it… it was care free and away from the titans.”  
Demi stared at her. “You didn’t want to come back.”  
“I was so happy.” Kana felt the tears forming in her eyes. “I learned so much about Levi and I fell in love with him all over again. Even with that wound that wouldn’t heal, I didn’t care. I wanted to stay in those days. I would give anything to force Tsuki to turn back time and put me back there again.” Kana pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. “But… it didn’t last. Even before Tsuki pulled me back, those days of joy were over. That… fucking piece of shit commander Erwin… He forced Levi into the Survey Corps… and…on their first expedition…” Kana’s eyes widened and the tears started flowing faster. “…I got Isabel and Farlan killed. I did. I… held both of them…Watched the life leave both of their eyes…”  
Demi’s eyes trembled. “Kana…”  
She gripped her hair and whimpered, “And right after that is when Tsuki pulled me back. I took everything from Levi…how can I…how can I look at him again? How can I… live with myself? I just want to – “  
Demi gripped her shoulders. “Stop. Don’t finish that sentence. Everyone here is so happy you’re back. We need you here, Kana. Not just for you knowledge and leadership, but because of your compassion and your company. You can’t give up, Kana.”  
Kana’s eyes glassed over and she lowered her head back down. “I’m sorry.” A sigh left her. “Thanks for checking on me.”  
Demi nodded and stood up. “Please get to feeling better. I don’t know if I can keep Tsuki at bay any longer and she won’t be as patient as the rest of us.”

Hanji and Levi were still up late that evening and Hanji asked, “Have you tried speaking to her?”  
Levi slowly shook his head. "I can't... I don't know what I'd..." He took a deep shuddering breath. "That massacre... we've had... six years to overcome it and she's had... two days. But neither of us... saw anything like she did. Farlan and Isabel... they both died in her arms. She blames herself for not saving them. I didn't have anything to say to make her feel better then and six years later... I still have nothing. I'm no good at comforting..."   
"I understand... but maybe you should try... I can imagine she feels really lost and broken right now. Maybe talking to you, about anything... will ground her."   
"There's so much we have to say first... I don't want to overwhelm her..." 

Before they could say anything else, there was a quiet noise and the two of them looked over. Stepping off the bottom stair, Kana held her upsef up against the wall with her hand pressed to her face, breathing heavily. Hanji almost opened her mouth but Levi already shot passed her, to her side. “Kana, do you need something?” He asked worriedly.

She didn’t remove her hand from her face but something about the way he spoke shocked her. In this era, she was used to the guarded, reserved voice of her captain. The one that masked his feelings in public so that he could always make the right choice and not be biased when decision time came. But his voice, in that moment, felt just like the Levi she left behind. The one that loved her without reserve and put her life above everything. The hand that braced herself on the wall slid away and grasped his jacket. Instinctively, his hand clasped hers, securing it in his own. 

Slowly she looked up to see that his silver eyes were filled with worry and fear. There was no mask in his expression in that moment. She almost couldn’t believe it was him. It felt more like she had dragged the Levi of the past back with her. Her voice trembled as she whispered, “Rivialle?”

His eyes widened and the breath left him. The name he hadn’t heard in six years. The woman he’d been waiting all this time for. His hands trembled. He’d wanted to be strong and reserve himself until she was better. But he couldn’t control himself after hearing his name on her lips again. He wrapped himself around her and squeezed her to him. Every emotion he had kept bottled up inside of him for the last six years came pouring out. Neither of them had the strength to hold themselves up and they both dropped to the ground, holding each other tightly as tears escaped their eyes.

Hanji, seeing what was transpiring, took her chance to duck out of the room and give them much needed alone time to talk.

Kana gripped his jacket like her life depended on it as she shook her head back and forth. “Rivialle… I’m so… so sorry… I’m so sorry. I left you… I left you alone. And I didn’t remember anything…”

“Stop.” Levi whispered through the tears.

“It must have been so hard on you.” Kana continued, ignoring him. “When I came back and remembered nothing. I had no idea…I didn’t know anything. I had no idea what you were seeing every time you looked at me. The reason you’d been so sad all this time…the frustration you must have – “

“Kana, I said stop.” Levi pulled away from her, his hands on her shoulders. He was squeezing her so desperately, afraid to ever let her slip through his grasp again. He was terrified now. He needed to regain control of his own emotions so he could help her stabilize herself. But he couldn’t. His trembling hands slid up to her cheeks, brushing his calloused thumbs over them and wiping away the salty tears. He then brushed back her wild crimson strands as his silver blue eyes drank in every inch of her face, memorizing her all over again. “None of that matters. I’ve waited… so long for this moment. For…you.”

“It does matter.” Kana whispered, her hands sliding up his forearms and resting on his hands. “All of it mattered… still matters…You needed me and I just… disappeared. I didn’t tell you anything…I didn’t give you anything to hold on to…I – “

“You gave me your word.” Levi argued. “That’s all I needed. Everything I faced after was easier… because I knew you’d keep your promise. I knew you would come back.” He leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers. “The woman I met back then, that forced me to love her… despite every awful… shitty thing I did…I knew a woman who loved that much… wouldn’t lie to me. I knew you were going to come back… I just didn’t know how… or when…but it didn’t matter. I never dreamed… that I would love someone so much…and that… someone would love me like this in return.”

“I will always love you.” Kana whispered breathlessly. She moved her hands to the back of his head, cupping it and running ther thumbs through his hair. “I fell in love with you here… in this time. The man who gave me an opportunity, who cared for my family, who defended the lives of his comrades at all costs, who time and time again believed in me and trusted me and supported me when I was the most wretched, awful person and took all of my anger and hated out on him. I loved him. I’d die for him. Then I was sent back in time I met you again. I learned you again. You were so different but everything I loved about you here… I loved even more there. You were so protective… so honest… so…everything I believed in. And now that I know that you… and I’m back here…I’m going to fall in love again. And again… and again…”

He couldn’t hold it any longer. He tipped her head up as he leaned in and kissed her passionately. Both of their lips were trembling, but she pulled him in closer as he kissed her with everything he had. His desire for her was boiling over, but he forced himself to remain delicate with his young beautiful flower. In that kiss, all of the last six years just washed away. The feelings he had, the last time he’d kissed her six years ago came rushing back and burned like a fire in his chest. The way she kissed him back had his head spinning. Though it had only been days for her, her desperation made it feel like she’d been waiting years just as he had.

They kissed over and over, as their bodies slowly collapsed against the wall. His hands reached all over her, holding her as close as possible to him. He couldn’t let her go, he’d never let her go again. When their lips finally parted, they both panted softly and she gazed lovingly into his eyes. She lowered her head, resting it in the crook of his neck. He turned his head, his lips resting against her crimson hair as he rubbed up and down her back. “I love you, Kana. I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that…but…I’m so glad that I got to meet you and be with you… so we could be here now.”

“I wish I could go back.” Kana whispered. “If… I had told you right away… I don’t know if you’d have believed me. But maybe I could have saved Isabel and Farlan… maybe we could…still all be living happily together. I…I was so happy…”

Levi brushed her hair back. “But would you have been happy knowing you left your friends here…that you left things undone...? I… wish they were still alive, too, Kana. But… we can’t regret our decisions. The choices we made…They wouldn’t want us to be sad…They wouldn’t want us to dwell. Isabel wanted to wipe out the titans and have a picnic outside the walls. So let’s do that. Let’s make that dream come true.”

Kana’s gaze softened and she buried herself against him. “I want that…”

After a few moments, he scooped her up out of his lap and stood to his feet. He carried her back upstairs and to her room. She shared a room with Mikasa and he was thankful that she fast asleep. He set his flower in her bed, tucking her in like he had so many times. He kissed her forehead once more but it wasn't enough and he kissed her plush lips as well. "Thank you, Kana. I know it was hard to leave... but thank you for coming home." 

Kana stared wide eyed at him before her crimson gaze glazed over. How could she have forgotten? While she was enjoying her new found life with young rebel Levi, she'd completely forgotten about her captain, waiting so eagerly at home for her to come back. If she'd have stayed, they wouldn't be here now, together with all of their shared memories. It helped her now, thinking about it, that she had to come home. 

Levi lingered at the edge of the bed and his hand went to his cravat. He looked down at her and his eyes swirled with emotion all over again. He confessed, “There’s something else.”

Kana sat up to her elbows. “What is it, Rivi?”

Levi leaned forward until his head touched hers and he found her hand again, lacing their fingers together. “Before the expedition started… I made you a promise. When you said you’d come back… I knew I had to keep it. I should probably wait until things settle down. But I can’t wait another moment.” He reached up under the fabric around his neck and yanked, breaking a thin metal chain that slipped to the floor. When he opened his hand, a perfect metal ring rest in the palm of his hand with a tiny sparkling diamond at it’s crest. “If your answer is still the same – “

Kana shot up, her eyes wide and watering. After all this time he remembered that? He’d been waiting to give this to her when she came back. She quickly looked up at him and breathlessly whispered, “Of course my answer is the same.”

“I know it’s so soon since you got back.” Levi stated. “And…I’m not ready to make our relationship public yet. Just because I know Erwin has things planned and I don’t want any distractions to come up. But…like I said… I can’t wait. I can only be so selfless to the cause. I got the ring as soon as I returned from the expedition. It was… my way of holding on. To never give up that you would come back. So…Will you marry me?”

Kana eagerly held her hand out. “I will marry you a thousand times, Rivi.” Her gaze softened as the ring slid perfectly along her finger. But she looked up at him mischeviously, “But…I won’t take this ring off. Ever. We’ll keep our relationship private, fine. But I’m going to tell them how amazing my fiancé is when they ask. You can’t stop me.” She planted several pecks on his lips.  
He grinned at her and kissed her back. “I guess that’s fair.” Cupping the back of her head, he kissed her forehead and whispered, “Now get some more rest. I’m hoping to see you up and around a bit tomorrow.”

Kana nodded. “I will.” 

Her captain reluctantly left the room and she laid back down and rolled over. Her gaze fell on her hands that fell limp on her pillow beside her head. Her new ring on her left hand, and the bracelet of her late, dear friend on her right. Her crimson gaze warmed and she whispered into the night. “Are you watching Isabel? I’m keeping my promise, no matter what.”


	113. The New Orders

The next morning, Kana surprised everyone but coming down for breakfast. As soon as she stepped in, Tsuki shot to her feet, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly. "Kana, thank god. How are you feeling?"   
"Hungry, honestly." She stated. She sat down, smiling when an eager Mizuki hopped into her lap, curling up against her stomach. She ran her hand through the little girl's black hair, but her eyes lingered on the rock on her finger, her heart pounding at the thought of who gave it to her and for what reason.   
Tsuki watched the soft smile on Kana’s lips, glad to see it after how awful she had looked the last several days. To be frank, she wanted to ask Kana what happened, but it was more than obvious those memories needed to disappear. So instead, she tried to strike up her own conversation with her.  
Kana looked up when she realized Tsuki was talking to her. “Hm?”  
“I said it’s nice to have you back. Your mom came… she helped us train while you were gone and taught us a lot of stuff.” Tsuki explained.  
Kana’s gaze drifted away. Her own mother hadn’t bothered to stick around and see if her own daughter was alive and well. But that was fine. She didn’t want to see her anyway. “Good. I asked her to.”  
“From the past?” Tsuki asked.  
Kana nodded. “Caught her sneaking away after abandoning her kids.” There was a pause in her thoughts. “Did… she even ask about any of us?”  
Tsuki shook her head.  
Leah added, “The only reason we even knew she was your mom was because Demi had a memory of her.”  
Kana glanced at the green slayer who nodded. “Kana…did your mom ever try to kill you?”  
Kana’s face scrunched up. “What? No. She’s a shitty mom but she never tried to kill me.” She paused. “That I remember.”  
“I remember seeing her do it.” Demi stated. “But…I was confused why she ran off when we brought you back.”  
“She’s a coward.” Kana answered.  
Tsuki fanned her hands. “Enough of that. No sad talk. Let’s all be cheery and positive and happy that Kana is back and is okay.”  
Mizuki made a noise as she curled up in Kana’s lap and she stroked the little black haired weapons head. She could feel her little body trembling slightly and Kana’s eyes clouded over. It would appear the pain wasn’t over yet. Mizuki whimpered, “It’s almost time…” Her heart jumped into her throat, remembering what had been happening here before she left. Mizuki had rejected her. Did using Isabel in the past make it worse? Would this be her fault too?  
Despite being in her own little world, the conversations around her continued. She tipped her head up, trying to leave her bubble, but now she was thinking about everything that had gone wrong. Being kicked out of the survey corps, being accused of being a traitor, being stabbed through the stomach by her own friend, being rejected by her weapon, being forced through time against her will, just to be yanked back when the one she loved the most needed her the most. And now –   
The glint on her finger made the thoughts stop. The ring she wore felt like a badge after surviving something so terrible. It reminded her that even in the worst of times…there were moments that made everything worth it. Her crimson gaze slid across the table until it landed on Levi as he sipped at his tea. He was alos not focusing on the squad as they gossiped about the morning. He was always in his own world. But for a moment his gaze met hers and those silver eyes swirled with emotion. A jolt of joy ran through her and a stupid smile spread on her lips.  
She would survive this.  
Leah asked, "So are you joining us in training, Kana? Or are you resting more?"   
"I think she probably needs to take some more time." Demi stated adamently.   
Kana started to say something but Levi cut in, "She'll rest one more day, but be back to full regimine tomorrow."   
"Harsh." Tsuki whined. "What if she did light duty for a while?"   
"She wasn't actually injured. If she’s mentally prepared, she's to work. We don't tolerate slacking." Levi stated.   
Tsuki puffed her cheeks. Talk about being cold. 

Kana brushed it off. She knew what was on her captain's mind. He didn't want to give them any reason to suspect who it was that put the ring on her finger by showing favoritism or giving special treatment.   
Leah spoke up after a bit and asked, “So now that everything is back in order, how long are we going to keep training? When are we going to actually do something?”   
“We’re waiting on orders now.” Levi stated. “Hanji sent word already to Erwin that we’ve retrieved Kana. He should be sending his orders soon. I imagine, the way he is… he’s probably thinking much further into the future than we ever have.”

A couple days passed and they all continued their training.   
They were all working as hard as they could. Like always, they pushed Eren to the brink and Demi hissed and complained about it. But since her return from the past, she and Demi hadn't had any conflicts. In fact, they were getting along better than ever.   
Demi sat down beside Kana, handing her a flask of water while she leaned back. "You look to be doing as good as new." 

"I guess." Kana took a huge drink of her water, looking out across the field, seeing that Mizuki was sitting still a few feet from a tree. It was weird to see her there because she was almost always sitting with Levi or on his shoulders.   
Demi nudged her friend's shoulder. "No one's noticed yet."   
"Huh?" Kana asked.   
Demi picked up Kana's hand, pointing to the ring. "I'm still the only one who knows, right?"   
"Hange knows as well." Kana stated. "But that's only cause she was there back then. So there was no way to hide it from her. But keep your lips sealed. We have no intention of telling anyone."   
"Oh yeah?" Demi asked. "Think you guys'd get a lot of heat for being a captain-subordinate relationship?"  
"I'm sure of it. He doesn't like attention anyway." Kana carried on. She noticed Levi and Hanji were talking as they walked across the field on the other side of the training team. Mizuki noticed as well, slowly getting up stumbling after them. But after a few steps, trying to catch a hold of the back of Levi's boot, she missed and fell into the grass. She lay there, still for several minutes.   
Kana frowned deeply and stood up, hurrying across the field through the trainers. Demi was right on her heels. Hanji and Levi noticed, looking back as the two girls knelt down. 

Hanji trotted back over and asked, "Is she okay?"   
Kana paused. "She's fine."   
Levi commented, "She hasn't been very active recently."   
Kana gently lifted Mizuki up, placing her on her feet. "Stand up Mizuki."   
Mizuki whined and fell back down into her lap. "I just wanna sleep."   
When Hanji and Levi carried on, Demi stated, "I can smell it, you know?"   
Kana looked at her expectantly. Demi explained, "She's almost to the end of her rope. She'd dying."  
Kana’s eyes glazed over again. That word again. She was beginning to hate even just the sound of it. She was sick of death. Sick of losing everything around her. She closed her eyes tightly as she pulled Mizuki up into an embrace. This little tyke had been with her since the beginning. Since it all started. She was a part of her. She’d begun to feel like a sibling she didn’t ask for – and the last one she had. Kana’s eyes were watery when she opened them again. “I knew it was coming. When she rejected me…I knew the reason was that she was too weak. That we couldn’t form a bond any longer…I just didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe that was the case. It’s… it’s just another to add to the list of people I’ve killed.”  
Demi knelt in front of her. “You didn’t kill Mizuki and she’s not dead yet.”  
Kana looked up at her. “Isabel was a weapon. I used her.” When Demi’s eyes widened, it confirmed Kana’s suspicion. “That’s the reason she’s suddenly so bad. I bonded with another weapon, effectively ending ours.”  
Demi narrowed her eyes at Kana. “How could you have used another weapon? That’s not possible.”  
“I don’t know.” Kana whimpered. “But I did. It was the only way to save everyone.” Her voice caught in her throat. “And they still died…”  
Demi wrapped her arms around Kana and pulled her into an embrace. There was just nothing in the green slayers power to make her nightmare go away.

Just as expected, orders finally came in. It was late in the day when Levi delivered it to the team. The sun had long since set and the bulk of Squad Levi as sitting at the table. However, Kana was crawling around on the ground, searching for Mizuki but she had been listening to the team pass the orders around, reading them and each gasping with awe.   
Levi asked, "Has everyone read it?"   
"Y-Yes." Armin answered. "Captain Levi... this is...?"   
Levi took the paper, holding it over the candle and burning as he stated, "These are Erwin's orders. Do you guys believe in him? If you do, then we're leaving now."   
Kana lifted her head, banging it on the counter above her. "Now?"   
"Yes." Levi ordered, looking around for where she was in the dark. "Now."   
Tsuki asked, "Kana what are you doing crawling around on the floor?"   
"It's disgusting and filthy. Using yourself as a broom won't clean it." Levi told her, taking a punch to his shin before she got back to her feet.   
"Sorry, I... misplaced something." Kana stated, looking around worriedly.   
"Find it and let's go. Now." Levi ordered.   
While the others were all packing up their stuff, Kana hurriedly dove through all the cabinets, and every crook and crevis of the entire cabin. Soon, Demi joined her and asked, "Did you find Mizuki yet?"   
"She must have laid down somewhere..."   
"I'll help you. We'll find her. I can still smell her so she's not dead yet... Stay positive."   
Kana shook her head. "No I know, but what if she gets so weak that she falls asleep and can't wake up? I can't just leave her here to die."   
"We're not leaving her." Demi assured.   
For the next fifteen minutes, the checked the whole place, top to bottom. With the orders, Hanji had brought back a shipment of weapons. Not weapons for killing titans, weapons for killing people. Kana wanted to question, but she decided that finding Mizuki was more important.   
When they were all gathered, Levi asked, "Is everyone ready?" His gaze shifted around, looking for a particular red head.   
Eren stated, "Demi and Kana aren't here." He looked back at the cabin. "I'll go figure out what's taking so long." He was wearing two bags because he had packed up Demi's stuff as well since she was preoccupied. He didn't realize Levi followed him back into the cabin until the captain boomed, "What the hell are you two doing? It's time to go, now."   
Kana shot up. "We...we can't go yet. I can't. Not yet."   
"You don't have an option. Our orders were to leave, now." Levi argued, knowing full well that nothing would get through to his little flower.   
"I know that but I can't." Kana stated.   
Eren asked, "What are you guys looking for?"   
"Mizuki." Kana answered.   
Levi's eyes widened a bit and he looked away. "Shit."   
"So... we really can't go." Demi stated. "Not till we find her."   
"If she's not answering you, she's probably not in the cabin." Levi stated.   
Kana looked down, her gaze going to the weapon box. "That's not... necessarily true right now."   
Eren turned to Levi. "So what do we do? We're in serious trouble if we don't leave, but we can't just leave a weapon behind."   
Demi stated, "You guys go on ahead. We'll catch up."   
"No." Levi argued without hesitating. "Just hurry up and find her."   
Kana nodded her head quickly and returned to searching by candle light, pausing when she saw there was still a gun in the crate. "Did someone not get their weapon?"   
"Everyone's got theirs. Why?" Levi demanded.   
"Then Hanji must have miscounted." Kana commented, lifting up the gun. But as soon as she did, she felt a hot tickle through her skin. She shifted the candle light over the barrel, her eyes widening when she saw that it was black with red veins climbing through it. Or rather, it wasn't a gun barrel at all. It was a long sword tip, but it was attached to what looked like the pommel of a gun. "Nevermind, I found her."   
Demi hurried over. "Is she okay - what?" She stared at the makeshift weapon and stated, "She locked herself into a form you could use. Is she out of energy to shift back?"   
"I'm guessing she's reverting..." Kana stated. "But she made sure to do in a way that I could still use her."   
Levi wanted to ask questions, wanted to know what was going on that they weren't telling him. He wanted to know more than anything that she was okay, but they weren't in the same situation as back then. When he could do anything he wanted without a care. Now he was responsible for more than just her life. He hated it, but he had to keep being the captain. "We don't have time to worry about that. We need to move, now."   
"Right." Kana agreed. He was relieved, based on the look in her eyes, that she knew he had to keep being the cold captain. He had to keep making the hard choices so they didn't have to. But it didn't change how he felt. Nothing ever would.


	114. Expiration Date

Up the hill, Tsuki's hands were on her hips. "About time you two. What the hell? Was crawling around that important?"   
"It was a little more complicated than that." Demi stated, looking back down the hill where the cabin was at where they'd just left.   
Tsuki's gaze followed and she stated, "That was a close one. if we had slept there tonight..."   
Kana watched as people with torches marched on the cabin they were in, all with weapons in their hands. Whatever their true intention was, they were going to hurt or kill people. And they would have been the targets.   
Armin was the first to look away and ask, "Captain, are those guys Military Police?"   
"Who knows?" Levi answered. "To think they'd come here directly. Let's hurry to the meeting place. It's good the moon's out."   
Leah giggled, "Well, I can see in the dark, so I'm golden."   
Armin smiled at her and hushed her, "We don't all have that luxury, Leah. But try to keep it down a bit, we don't know if there's more out here scouting."   
Leah covered her mouth. 

They reached the meeting location just a little before sunrise and they were able to catch a couple hours of sleep. Well most of them did. Demi and Kana were sitting at the table, the makeshift Mizuki between them as they talked.   
"It's dawn of the second day." Demi stated.   
"Don't make it sound so morbid." Kana retorted, but her eyes were sad. "I can barely sense her energy. I imagine that when I use her, it will only be a one time thing. But... damn is she loyal. She's doing everything she can and I've been a horrible Slayer for her.”   
"Not true." Demi retorted. "She always looked happy to harass you." She laughed softly. "If you were a horrible Slayer, she'd live her last couple days in an easy form and do nothing but sleep and relax. Instead, she armed herself ready to fight."   
They looked over when they heard footsteps and she saw Levi walking in. Kana smiled at him, "Good morning, handsome. Shouldn't you still be sleeping?"   
He froze at her words and his gaze went to Demi who fanned her hand and giggled, "Oh don't look like that. I already know. I black mailed Kana about my knowledge long before Burt and Reiner attacked us. Soon as I saw the ring I knew it was you."   
Kana sipped her coffee. "There was really no point in lying."   
Levi sighed as he sat down at the table as well. "Guess it can't be helped if you already know. You've kept the secret this long. Like Hanji."   
"But back to the important details." Kana stated. "You should be sleeping. Do you ever sleep? Ever?"   
Levi scoffed, pouring himself a cup of coffee as well. "You worry too much. I'm fine. The important business is what the two of you were just talking about and I feel that I should know. What's going on with Mizuki?"   
Kana pursed her lips, exchanging a look with Demi who fanned her hand. Exasperated, Kana confessed, "Mizuki isn’t like other weapons. She... has an expiration date."   
Levi's eyes widened.   
"Mizuki was only able to hold her composition for so long." Demi chimed in. "I'm honestly surprised she did this long, considering how often Kana used her. But she's dwindled fast."   
"I think the long period of time away from me increased the strain on her tiny body." Kana explained. "She's been exhausted because she's running out of energy. Now, I'm fairly certain she's run so low of energy that she's gotten stuck in weapon form. But she... did so that I could handle her one last time."   
Levi looked sadly at the weapon and stated, "She cares about you a lot then."   
Demi smirked when Kana's eyes widened a bit. She stated, "That's what I was trying to tell her, too. Course she only believes it coming from you."   
He sighed, looking at his coffee. He wasn't sure what to say. He'd gotten so used to having Mizuki around. She spent majority of her time on his back, shoulders or head, and when Kana had been transported, she hadn't left his side for a moment. Not having her around was... different. "She's a fighter to the end, then." He stood up, taking his empty cup to the sink, mussing Kana's hair as he walked by. "We'll begin getting ready for the next step in the plan here very soon. Be sure you're both ready." 

Being inside Trost again as weird. It had once been a bustling town with tons of merchants always doing business. There were still merchants everywhere, but everything looked, broken and barely held together. People didn't look like they had as much money in their pockets as they once did.   
Everyone looked to be barely holding on.   
As they walked along, Tsuki fell in step with Kana. “Still doing alright?”  
Kana glanced at her and nodded. “I’m… okay. I… still feel like I’m processing everything though.”  
Tsuki asked, “Why was Mizuki hiding the other day?”  
Kana pursed her lips. She looked down at her hip, the black bladed gun that was tied there and her crimson eyes dimmed. “She’s…Well… she – “  
One of the guys lingering on the edge of the road they were walking down suddenly called out, “Hey you… aren’t you Levi?”  
At hearing his name, several others started to pack around, making a fuss.   
"It really is!"   
"I've seen him before, too!"   
"It's humanity's strongest soldier, Levi!"   
"Hey, hey, he's tiny..."   
"I've only seen him on horseback 'til now, wow!"   
Distracted for a moment from the question Tsuki asked was a relief. It was a fact she wasn’t ready to face. But something like this she could face. Immediately she was filled with possessiveness to defend her fiancé. The word rang in her ears and made her heart jump. She had to knock that off. They were part of a team now and other lives depended on them focusing on their mission, not each other. This era wasn’t the carefree –  
Kana felt like her heart stopped in her chest. The other era. Where she lost Isabel and Farlan. Her hand came up to her face, her jaw trembling as tears threatened her eyes. When she held her face, the Chinese bracelet rattled against it and the memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. Farlan laughing, then confessing himself to her and trusting her, and then letting him die. She could see so clearly the lifelessness of his eyes as half of his body lay in the mud. She remembered the look on Isabel’s face. The poor girl had drained every ounce of energy from herself to help protect their friends. They’d failed. And then she’d failed to protect her.  
And soon… she was going to lose Mizuki too.  
Tsuki grasped her hand. “Kana…hey…”  
Levi maintained a generically bland expression but his temper was short. "You're in the way."   
"Mr.Captain, please listen!" They harassed.   
"As wretched as we are please listen to us. We missed a lot of work thanks to that flashy evacuation plan of yours. It's not just us. With the growing distrust in this city along with the wall, nobody comes around anymore. If we can't make any money, we can't eat. The Garrison went off somewhere and robbers come in their place."   
"And despite all that, taxes are still as high as ever. What should we do? Why did this happen? Why have the titans attacked again and again? I know why. It's because you guys in the Survey Corps aren't working hard enough." Suddenly all glares turned on the entire team.  
"My business is like this... I don't earn money, it's my own fault. Putting in the effort but not getting the deserved reward is commonplace. But you guys are different, no? You can eat even without doing anything or showing any results."   
One of the men put a hand on Kana's arm. "Walking along this street all high and mighty on a shopping trip? Bringing along women, too, you're sure sitting pretty."   
Kana let out a whimpering noise and Tsuki pushed the guy back. “Keep your hands off of her.”  
Levi glanced back, for a moment, a lethal look of possessiveness filled his gaze. If it were up to him, the man would be dead.  
The man chuckled. “Oh, spunky, too?”  
The leading man, who was now in Levi's face kept ranting. "If you guys have any bit of conscience at all, leave your money and then go. The Survey Corps have taken far more than they deserve after all."   
Levi's gaze moved to the side for a moment before he shouted back at his team. "Watch out!" They all went on high alert, but the man grabbed Levi by the collar and shouted in his face, "Who are you watching out for, Mister Humanity's Strongest Soldier!?"   
Levi bashed his arm up into the man’s face and spun, kicking the other one in the throat as she shouted, “A wagons rushing over!”  
By kicking the man and pushing himself back, he had actually moved all three of them out of the way of getting seriously hurt by the rampaging cart. The rest of the team dove out of the way, but Tsuki wrapped her arm around Kana who still hadn’t seem to have waken herself from her stupor yet. A couple of the men inside the wago reached out and were able to grab Eren and Krista before they could get far enough away.  
Tsuki rolled over from where she fell and looked over as the wagon rushed off. Just as planned. Her blue eyes swept over everyone before landing on Kana who had now pulled her knees up and pressed her face to them. She rubbed her friends back.  
Demi walked across the road, to them. She cleared her throat and in a completely monotone voice, she fake cried, “Oh no…! Eren and Krista have been captured again…”  
Tsuki rolled her eyes. “Is that really the best you can do?”  
Demi smirked but her gaze went to Kana who looked like she was reliving a nightmare. Both of her friends knelt down and helped her back to her feet. Tsuki worriedly asked, “Are you okay? Kana?”  
Her red eyes trembled and she nodded slowly. “Y-yeah…s-sorry…I just…thought too hard…”


	115. Crysaline

They followed the cart to a warehouse that was way outside the normal locale. Kana and Demi were taking a peek inside, both of them hanging from the rooftop and looking in one of thewindows half blocked by cargo. Jean and Armin were tied up in chairs. Neither had their disguises blown yet.   
That was good. But... damn poor Armin. One of their capturers was a freaking pervert and was fondling and groping him like none other. She couldn't believe the freak hadn't realized those were fake cups Armin was wearing. But when a bastard is horny he'd probably take anything.   
Demi looked at her. "I've had enough of this. Let's tell Levi to hurry this along. It's gross."   
"Agreed." Kana stated, both of them climbing back up to the other rooftop where the rest of the team, minus the real Eren and Krista were waiting.   
Levi asked, "How's it look inside?"   
Demi stated, "If we don't hurry, they'll see through Armin's disguise. He's quite pitiful right now, getting groped like a slut in a whorehouse."   
"Wow." Kana gaped.   
"Was that not the right terminology?" Demi asked. "Did I offend someone?"   
"Anyway." Levi stated. "Kana, stay up here and keep servey of the place. Demi, you and Tsuki try to sneak in."   
Kana started to open her mouth to argue but she found herself hesitating. If she messed up again…and with Mizuki in the state she was in, she’d likely mess up. Her hand went to the hilt of the sword Mizuki formed and her face pinched up.  
Levi frowned, having expected her to argue, but he could see that she still wasn’t fully recovered. And that’s exactly why she was going to stay out of the fray this time. If her weapon wasn’t stable and she couldn’t use Mizuki’s life source, then he couldn’t put her life in danger. Not again.  
Demi and Tsuki both jumped down into the building. The plan from before included them either returning with Jean and Armin after they had the lead merchant bound, or that they were to give a signal if they needed back up.   
Quite some time went by and there was no sign of either from them.   
"Something's wrong." Levi stated.   
"Want me to go in?" Kana asked.   
Levi made a face at her and sighed. "We'll both go in." He looked at Leah and told her, "Keep your barrier up. If someone new passes through, is there anyway for you to reach out to us?"   
"Have Djovvak sputter his power wave." Kana ordered. "I'll be able to sense it."   
Leah nodded her head. "Got it."   
Kana and Levi made their way to the window that had clearly been opened by Tsuki and Demi. They quietly made their way in side, but they were completely masked by cargo boxes, so they wouldn't be seen by the merchants on the other side with Armin and Jean. Kana looked around, seeing Demi and Tsuki just standing there.   
Kana hurried over to them with Levi right behind her. Upon closer inspection, however, she noticed they were both encased in ice.   
Levi looked at them and muttered, "What the hell?"  
Kana touched the ice and she could feel an overwhelming sense of power from it. It confirmed her suspicions. “There’s a weapon here.”  
Levi cursed, “Great.” He ordered, “Don’t leave my side. Let’s go.”  
Kana’s gaze lingered on her two friends for a moment longer before she followed her captain. He darted past the cargo, going to take care of the burden on poor Armin. Kana made her way around in the shadows as she listened to Levi easily knocking out the guards and dragging them out of sight. She heard him conversing with Armin and Jean, but she wasn't finding any of who she was looking for. She couldn't even sense the presence anyone else, especially not a Weapon.   
Kana paused, spying a figure in the far corner. It was a small being wearing a simple black outfit, coated in a black hoodie that cloaked their face. Their lips turned up in a dark smile before suddenly darting out the nearest window. Kana went to follow them, but when she leaned out the window, the person was long gone.   
"Shit." Kana cursed and ducked back inside. After finishing scoping out the area, she returned to the two disguised boys and her captain. "There's no one else in here. I think the Weapon flew the coop."   
"I wonder how many of you we don't know about." Levi commented.   
"I don't know." She confessed. "It's a first for me, too – seeing a weapon beyond those in our crew."  
Levi pointed to the cargo boxes and stated, "They're untied, but they'll stay there to lure the abductors in. Then you and I will knock them out from behind."   
Kana nodded her head, ducking down into position. Not too much later, the door opened slowly and they heard:   
"...Idiot. Do you want to make another mistake?"   
"I'm sorry."   
"Wait before sending a report. We're not allowed to fail again."   
Crossing her line of vision, an overweight bald man was rolling down his sleeves, while lecturing, "In cases like these, the first step is to take off the cover."   
Once his bodyguard stepped into view she shot up, pushing herself off her hands and swinging her leg around, nailing her heel into his face and sending him flying into the cargo boxes. At the same time, Levi grabbed the other guy's neck and flipped him face first into the ground.   
Kana didn't miss a beat, spinning around and grabbing the fat boss and throwing him off balance. Once she had him tripped up, she knocked his feet out from under him and pinned him down with her knee to his neck.   
Levi kept the other two pinned down while Jean and Armin charged forward with the rope and Levi ordered, "Hurry!"   
Once they were all bound, they gave signal to the rest of the team to join them. Jean asked, "Where's Tsuki and Demi?"   
Kana grumbled, "There was another Weapon here. Froze them. I gotta find them and at least knock them out for a second. I don't know how to thaw them otherwise."   
They put the tied up merchant against one of the boxes and Levi demanded, "Are you the boss of this company?"   
The man teared up and shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm just the coach driver getting used... just an old man. Please don't hurt me... I-I don't know anything."   
Kana's eyes narrowed. "Nicely dressed for a coach driver. They pay you well."   
Mikasa was glaring at him and said suddenly, "This is the guy. I've heard his men call him president."   
Fatty president turned his head away and clicked his tongue.   
"You hear that?" Levi taunted.   
The man glared up at them and barked, "You all look pretty comfortable. You really think I'd be playing around with the big boys as empty handed as this? I have my own weapons, too, you know?"   
Levi arched his brows. "How do you plan to use them, bound as you are?"   
He narrowed his eyes and snapped. "Crysaline, it's time to stop playing around. I pay you for a reason."  
The sound of something flying through the air made all of them turn their heads. They scattered just in time as the sound of broken glass filled the room and pieces of ice fell all around. Mikasa was first back to her feet and she looked up. “What was – huh?”  
They all looked up to see a woman sitting a top one of the cargo boxes. she had long blue hair with white bangs and purple side locks. Her lips were a startling blue color but her eyes were silver gray. In her hand was a bow made of solid ice and she slotted a second arrow.   
“Well I’ll be damned.” The new woman stated. “Luck does lie with the wicked…”  
Jean shouted, “Another Slayer?”  
The woman raised her bow so it wasn’t pointing at them and there was a wide grin on her face. “They sent here on a wild goose chase. I didn’t think I’d actually find you, Kana Silrause. Tell me, is your cunt of a mother still around? She’s been shirking back home.”  
Kana narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”  
“Crysaline. Open your ears, scum.” She barked.  
Jean shouted, “If you’re a Slayer, why aren’t you helping us fight the titans? Instead you’re using your powers to help this… greedy bastard?”  
Crysaline glared darkly at him, “Do not speak to me you waste of space.”  
Mikasa drew her swords. “Whoever this woman is, she’s not on our side.”  
Crysaline notched another arrow. “Now are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” Just as she let the arrow loose, it slammed into a forcefield that had come up just in time.   
Leah jumped through the window and landed beside the others. “Are you guys okay?”  
Levi nodded. “But this enemy is a Slayer. We’ll need your help to – “  
The bow dropped from the womans hands and she stepped off her cargo box perch. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Leah and she gasped, “You’re… alive?”  
Leah looked around as though she was confused who she was talking to. She finally pointed her finger at herself. “Me?”  
“Yes you…I…we all thought you were dead…” Crysaline confessed.  
Leah shook her head. “No, I’m not…who is we?”  
“Me and your parents… and… everyone.” She answered.  
Hope sparked in Leah’s eyes. “Is that why they never came to find me? Because they thought I was dead? Where are they!? Where’s the village!?”  
Kana raised her hand. “Leah…”  
Crysaline tipped her head. “You don’t know where the village is?”  
Leah shook her head. “I lost my memories. All of us have.”   
“Then that’s why you didn’t return to us either.” Crysaline confessed. Her eyes narrowed and she turned her focus to Kana. “It’s your fault. All of this is.”  
Kana’s crimson gaze flashed with pity. “Yeah. Tell me something new. I’ve heard that a lot.”  
She snarled. “This isn’t a joke! Who else are you hiding here with you in your little plot to destroy us?”  
“Destroy you? What?” Kana repeated. “I don’t know you. I’m getting the strong sense that I don’t like you.”  
The fat man shouted from where he remained tied up. “Excuse me? I pay you to protect me!”  
“Shut up you mongrel.” Crys snarled. “Read the room. I no longer need you. I just needed income so I could stay in the walls.”  
Armin’s eyes widened. “In the walls? You’re from…outside?”  
“Of course I am. Every Slayer is.” She barked. She went back to Leah and took her hands, her tone doing a 180 from the way she spoke to Armin. “Leah…come home with me.”  
Her eyes were wide and trembling. Home. With her parents. What would it be like?  
Armin raised his hand. “Wait… Leah…”  
Leah looked over at Armin and guilt filled her chest. Back to the woman she asked, “Is it true? That we’re supposed to be weapons of humanity? To defend them?”  
Crys’s gaze was soft. “Of course it is.”  
“Then why aren’t we protecting them?” Leah insisted. “Why… are we letting them die?”  
Her gaze pinched. “Leah, we’re not. We’re doing our job as we’ve been asked to. By our King.”  
Leah shouted, “Then ask him to stop the titans! Please!”  
Crys’s gaze was wide before she glanced around at the other humans. She could tell that something wasn’t right. “I’ll go speak with him. You’ll see me again.” She let go and started to walk around but Kana cleared her throat, making the woman whip around in rage.  
Kana ordered, “Release our friends you iced.”  
Crys smirked. “Oh fine. They were poor excuses of Slayers anyway. Ta-ta.” She waved before darting out of the window just as Demi and Tsuki stumbled out from behind the cargo boxes, holding their heads.  
The fat mans’ eyes were wide. “Dammit…unreliable after all.”  
Tsuki looked around. “What happened?”  
Demi cursed. “We were hit by another Slayer weren’t we? I thought I sensed one…”  
Levi sighed. “We’ll bench the conversation about this for another time. Getting back to subject…let’s take this guy and go talk.”


	116. Torture

They were now on top of the wall overlooking Trost. Specifically they stood directly over the boulder that sealed the entrance that was broken the day they joined the Survey Corps.   
Levi and the merchant president were at the edge, overlooking the city. The rest of the team lingered just a few feet back, listening to the conversation without being intrusive. Because there were so many Survey Corps members and no where for the president to go, Levi had removed his binds.   
President asked, "Why did you bring me all the way up here?"   
Levi challenged, "Do you know where we are, president?"   
"This is my town." President answered. "The front gate of Trost. Well, the ex-front gate. Or also the southern foremost line of humanity, the border between this world and that one. A scary place but I could do good business."   
"We call it the place where men have won over titans for the first time." Levi informed. "And also, a place that proves Humanity's helplessness. We used a titan to close the hole opened by a titan. We tried many ways, but in the end we realized that humans couldn't compete. We've since then acquired other means of help. My teams consists mostly of inhuman fighters. Beings similar to the one you hired, except, those on my team aren't paid for their services and they're loyal. We didn't win that battle with just the power of a titan. They played a critical role in that battle and many others. Also all the soldiers whom lost their lives. All the other miracles that happened that day allowed your town to barely survive. One of them is Eren, the boy whom you tried to abduct."   
The merchant dog started chuckling. "So you took me here to lecture me? You shouldn't bother, sir. I'm too old for that."   
"Yeah." Levi agreed. “It's pitiful to see an old man getting yelled at. I want to know your motives and the details of your negotiations with the brigade." As he spoke, he sat down on the edge of the wall, relaxing as he spoke with the merchant as though they were old friends.   
Tsuki frowned as she taped her foot impatiently. "What's the point of all this?"   
"To get intel?" Demi suggested. "Believe me, I want to kill him as much as the next person. He tried to take Eren. We should just push him off. And look at him so casually smoking a cigarette. I bet it'd taste better shoved down his fat throat."   
"Hush." Kana ordered under her breath.   
President chuckled, "Quite the fiery, unorthodox team you got there."   
Levi scoffed, "They're a bunch of loud-mouthed brats, but they're among the best soldiers I've had."   
Taking a long huff of his cigarette, fatty stated, "Anyway, there's no negotiations. I just obeyed the orders. Our motive is to obey orders, not to lose all we have. But both our night attack and kidnapping failed. The government will seize all our property after charging it of something and our workers will be left out in the streets. On top of that, I and some men will be silenced. We'll die in some mysterious incident. Let me tell you something, sir. The guys at the Brigade are idiots. How could they be so stupid as to think that punks like this could do something against people that normally fight titans? Your bunch of girls alone were enough to beat us. I thought we had a secret weapon, but we didn't have a chance." When he finished laughing, he asked, "What do you think sir, was that helpful?"   
"Yeah." Levi agreed. "They're not really smart aperantly. I already know that, but are you just going to let idiots like them kill you, president?"   
"They might be idiots, but they're the ones holding the power. You also get killed by beings that don't even wear clothes.”  
"I see. You're right. But we can also kill titans. It's like with them. If you're going to die anyway, you might as well try."   
"No." President argued.   
"Why?"   
"I'll just fail and more of my men will die."   
"Don't mind that. It'd be the same either way."   
"What?"   
Kana tensed a bit. She'd never heard such strange words from her Captain's mouth. Though he never said it out loud, his actions always said the most important thing was protecting as many lives as possible. Why would he say such a heartless thing?   
Levi carried on, "Trost, your own town, is on the verge of bankruptcy. For a while it was occupied by titans and helf destroyed. Yet there are still people here. Of course, that's also because there are workers trying to fill up the hole and soldiers that stand on guard in case titans arrive. But another reason is that Reeves company brings together people and jobs. However if Reeves company vanished, then the town will receive it's last blow and stop functioning. In that case, your employees won't be the only ones left int he streets. Except for soldiers, all the inhabitants of this town will be involved. I wonder how many of them will be able to survive through the winter? Being killed by the Central Brigade would still be better."   
"Yeah, that'll probably happen since you're not giving us Eren and Krista... a great number of people will die. So what? Are you going to give me Humanity's Last Miracle not to let my men and the people of this town die?"   
"Exactly." Levi answered simply. "I will give you ERen and Krista."   
Demi stiffened up. "Excuse me!?" Everyone else was just as shocked but when Demi started to march towards them, Kana grabbed her sleeve and yanked her back. "What the fuck do you mean you're handing them over!? You - "   
Kana hissed, "Shut up! I'm sure there's a plan!"   
"No way in hell am I fucking letting him be volunteered for this when he's not even here to agree!"   
"You know he'd say yes!" Kana ordered.   
Levi carried on, ignoring the commotion behind him. "However I have three conditions. From now on the Reeves company will rise against the Brigade and the Government together with us Survey Corps."   
Reeves shouted, "What!? Do you intend to start a war!?"   
"Second." Levi continued, "The Reeves company will completely trust the Survey Corps."   
"Trust?" Reeves hissed. "In the Merchant's world that word is only used as a joke."   
"Merchants? I'm currently talking to you, President Reeves. I'm asking you about your way of life. What kind of person are you? Are you going to let your men and the people of this town die? Or are you going to fight against the ones holding the highest power int his world. No one can say which one is the right choice. Just choose the one you like."   
Reeves scoffed and stated, "Only an amateur would ask someone to sign a contract without telling them all the conditions."   
"Oh I'm sorry. The third one. From now on, whenever the Reeves company obtains rare food or luxury items, they will preferentially give it to us Survery Corps. For example, black tea."   
Kana had to surpress a laugh, but Demi wasn't finding anything funny at the moment.   
Reeves chuckled once more and stated, "You're more avid than merchants. I like you."   
"Smart choice." Levi agreed, the two of them shaking hands.   
"I accept your proposal." Reeves answered.   
Demi screamed, "This is a joke! There is no fucking deal. We are not fucking handing them over, you fucking - " Kana covered her mouth, hissing in her ear to shut the hell up. 

Demi was still in a rage when she came to Kana's room, knocking things over, punching walls and screaming and shouting. She had come here to vent and Kana just sighed, banging her head on the wall.   
"Why after all the trouble of not getting him caught are we just fucking handing him to people we don't fucking trust! This is stupid! You need to go knock some fucking sense into him!"   
"He's our Captain, we can't question orders he - "   
"No, he's YOUR captain. Right now, he's a pain in my ass. I'm not handing Eren over. No. And what the hell is with this sudden idea to overthrow the fucking government? I thought we were supposed to be fighting titans! Why are we suddenly staging a coup? Isn't there enough shit going down inside the walls?"   
"He's just following Erwin's orders."   
"Then they're both off their fucking rockers!" Demi pointed a finger at her. "I'm not joking! They're not handing ERen over."   
"I get it." Kana growled. "You're not thinking clearly because you're mad, but this has to be done. It's for - "   
"No. Hell no. You're not about to use that damn line on me." Demi sneered. "You know damn good and well that if this was fucking Levi we were talking about handing over, you'd be killing some people. But it's fine because it's not Levi, right? He's the only one that matters - "   
"You're right."   
Demi stopped, glaring at her.   
"The only one that matters to me is Levi. The only that matters to you is Eren. It's obvious we both understand each other too painfully much. But you damn well if we were in the flipped situation you're talking about, you'd be sitting here talking sense into me as well."   
Demi went to the window, glaring out as clouds moved in. "They're not handing Eren over." 

A couple nights later, the team was huddled around the table late in the evening. They'd used Reeves' connection to the Brigade to capture a couple soldiers by posing some kind of accident. They had taken them in for questioning, but everyone in the room knew what that really meant. They were going to torture answers out of them.   
A cold shiver ran up Kana's spine. The thought of torture brought back horrible memories. 

"This is what we found out this time. In order to put their hands on Eren and Krista, the government is ready to use all their authority, completely ignoring the needs of the citizens and the maintenance of the wall. We cannot allow the king to act in such a reckless way." 

The words were on everyone's mind. Erwins orders.   
They were going to take down the King of the walls. And in order to do such, they were going to do very horrible things. 

"We cannot just keep watching and silently wait for the downfall of humanity to come. This is the only way left for humanity to survive. With our power, we will overthrow the government and obtain the authority over all the people left within the walls. We will bring down the imperial government." 

The tension in the room grew thicker and thicker in the darkness and it was only increased by the sudden eruption of screaming from downstairs. It was mostly muffled, but the horrible cries of a human wishing for death were unmistakable.   
Demi twirled her finger around her glass and grumbled, "Talk about dirty work. Oh well. Better this than sending Eren away."   
Eren shot her a look but she shrugged her shoulders.   
Jean put his hand to his forehead. "So it's started. Jeez. I thought I was fighting against titans. But now I don't even know who the enemy is. Why did we have to get involved in this?"   
"It's our duty." Kana stated, trying to ignore the way the screams made her feel. For some reason, she could almost feel the cold metal strapped to her wrists and ankles.   
Jean slammed his fist on the table. "Fuck duty! No one asked me if I wanted to do this! No one got my opinion on this! I didn't sign up to fight my own government!"   
"There's no other choice," Eren whom never doubted a single order since facing the female titan, hastily agreed. "If we fail here, humanity will be exterminated by titans. We're doing a Coupd'etat as in the plan devised by the Commander, but it's not finished yet."   
Tsuki frowned. "We're already considered rebels. What will happen if we fail?"   
"We're gonna be hanged in front of everyone." Leah whined.  
"It's because we're trying to change a system that's been like this for over a century." Armin stated, his head on his arms as Leah rubbed his back. "There are no precedents, but how about trying to get the people on our side? We could take advantage of the confusion caused by the repeated attacks of the titans. If we manage to rouse the public by shifting the responsibility on the monarchy... it might go well. The only problem is that in that case the public will be put in danger too and lives might be lost. I guess it can't be helped since it's for the sake of humanity. We should cause a significant accident and make it sound as if it was caused by the Monarchy or Brigade. The public will then consider the Survey Corps their saviors. I'm sure it won't be hard to fool the public..."   
There was silence and everyone stared at Armin in shock. He slowly smiled awkwardly. "J-Just joking..."   
Jean commented, "You were soiled after that pervert mocked you."   
Eren corrected, "No, Armin has always been good at coming up with gloomy makeshift measures."   
Mikasa hissed, "I don't remember raising him like that."   
"But..." Armin continued. "We're already criminals. Our current opponent is not someone we must kill in order to avoid being eaten. They're enemies because they have different ideas. Or even just because they belong to different corps. From now on... we might have kill someone just because of that... We're... not good people anymore..."   
Kana gasped, "That's not true, you're - "   
"Yes it is." Demi interupted. "Welcome to the real world. Getting to fight titans is a luxury because the hard choices never hit you. Killing them is nothing, your conscience and soul stay clean. From now on, you're all dirty humans."   
Eren nudged her. "Hey. Easy. This is a lot for us to take in."   
Demi looked down. "I know. But this is reality now."   
"And we didn't even get a choice." Jean spat. "How could that damn Captain of ours orders us to do something so horrible without even hesitating? This wasn't a part of our job."   
"It wasn't the Captain that ordered this." Kana quickly defended.   
"But it's not like he cared. He could have sided with us, given us time to think... I don't know..." Tsuki stated, looking down at the table. "I'm sure a guy like that couldn't understand what it's like to feel guilty for taking a life."   
"Shut up!" Kana shouted at her. Suddenly her mind was a whirlwind of all the times she'd seen Levi lose everything because of a bad choice, seen him suffering so much. "You have no right to say anything!" She couldn't stop envisioning them. Farlan, scolding them for being negligent, Isabel, cheering them on so happily. And then their broken bodies. It was timed perfectly with a horrendous scream from below and she felt immediately like she was going to lose her lunch. She shot up from the table and rushed outside, barely making it to the bushes before she threw up. She panted and held herself up on trembling arms.   
It appeared that the nightmare hadn't yet faded from her mind.  
Demi followed her outside a few minutes later, her hands in the pockets of her jeans. She tipped her head. “You’re uh… not gonna keep your secret well if you explode like that when someone shit-talks the captain.”  
“I know… but I couldn’t… stop myself. She doesn’t realize how wrong she is…” Kana rolled off her knees and sat up. “He knows better than anyone here how painful taking a life is. How painful losing one is…”  
Demi sighed. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  
Kana ran her hand through her hair and pushed her bangs back out of her face. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to feel normal again… or if I ever will…”  
“You will.” Demi assured. “At the very least…More and more awful things will happen and it’ll just become normal.”  
Kana sighed. “You’re awful.”  
“I’m honest.” She argued.


	117. Contrast

“Look Sanez." Hanji ordered. She held up a plate of the man's nails. "It was kind of difficult, though by doing it, I got the knack of it."   
He stared at his own fingernails for the longest time while Hanji continued, "Sorry I couldn't do it as nicely as you. How many should I rip off before I'm as good as you?"   
The man lowered his head. "What do you hope to accomplish here? Clearly the two of you enjoy this torture. You like making humans suffer." He paused. "This is clearly payback for the pastor. Though you don't understand, this hell is better than the one we were in. The hell with that creature."   
"What creature?" Levi demanded.   
"There's a thing that's joined our ranks. She's blood thirsty and violent. She's... a psychopath. Despite killing our own men on whims, the king still insists she stays as one of his guard. Keep this up and that hungry bitch will come for all of you, too."   
Hanji laughed. "We face titans. You think we're afraid of one measely soldier of yours?"   
The man started to say something when the door to the room opened. Levi snapped, "I thought I told all of you to -" He paused when Kana glared up at them.   
"Would you two try to keep it down? You're disturbing everyone upstairs." Kana leaned against the bars of the cell. "I'm sick of listening to them complain."   
Hanji stated, "Complain? But they should be happy, they're not the ones getting tortured."   
Kana sighed, "You show sympathy for titans but not humans, Hanji."   
She grinned.   
But Kana noticed the bound man was staring at her with wide eyes. She pursed her lips before turning and marching back up the steps. Hanji turned back to return to torture when she noticed that he was trembling. "Hm, what's wrong?"   
"This... can't be happening." Sanez lowered his head in defeat. "I see... so we were in danger the whole time..."   
Hanji shrugged and ordered, "You should start answering our questions now." 

The rest of the evening dragged on and Kana did her best to drown out the complains of the rest of the squad. It was getting frustrating for her though. However, they had gotten the information they wanted. Sanez had informed them of the truth of who the Riess family was.   
Most of them had long since gone to sleep, but it was Kana’s turn for guard duty. She was sitting on the roof of the cabin with Mizuki in her hands. She didn’t even feel like a living breathing person anymore. Now she truly was just a weapon.  
Her eyes shot over when she heard a noise, but was surprised to see Levi climbing up onto the roof with her. He sat down beside her and looked out at the forest as he asked, “I thought the order was that guard duty was done in pairs.”  
“I got sick of listening to them whine, so I told them to get lost.” Kana stated. She looked over at him and taunted, “Finally get sick of getting your hands dirty? It’s so unlike you.”  
Levi smirked. “We do what must be done.” His gaze went to the black sword in her hands and he asked, “Are you alright? I can tell that…it’s still fresh.”  
Kana sighed and dipped her head, rubbing her palm over her forehead. “It’s not just that. It’s everything. One thing after another and I feel like I just keep slipping further and further into this…pit. I mean…first of all I get accused of being where I’m not and a part of the military brigade. I have no idea where that’s even coming from. And then Sarthis tried to kill me and Mizuki. I believe Demi when she says it was without her orders. So there’s that. And now this other Slayer shows up acting like she knows me when I’ve never seen her a day in my life.” Kana rubbed her head. “To be honest… the past was my biggest breath of relief. Now I’m back and staring everything in the face again. But on top of all of that, now I’m petrified. I can’t stop thinking about losing them. And soon I’ll be losing Mizuki, too.”  
Levi reached up slowly and cupped her shoulder, turning her into him as he kissed the crown of her head. “It all feels like shit now, then. Not really anything we can do about that.”  
Kana scoffed and sardonically mocked, “Oh yeah, thanks for those words of wisdom.”  
He smirked back down at her. “Even so. You’ll figure it out. You’re a fighter. You don’t give up. No matter who or what tries to stop you.”  
Kana smiled up at him before scooting closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Rivi.”  
They sat in silence for a couple moments before he spoke up again. “There…is something I wanted to discuss with you. Now that we have a moment.”  
“Yeah what is it?” Kana asked.  
“Meria – “ He started.  
Kana hissed and groaned. “Oh god nothing to do with her.”  
Levi shot her a look like he was scolding a child. “Get over it. She taught the girls a lot and frankly it’s the only reason you’re back.”  
“Yeah but that doesn’t undo her past crimes.” Kana grumbled. “Like dumping her four kids off and running away. Aparently to somewhere outside the walls.”  
Levi held a finger up. “One topic at a time. I have a thousand questions about that, too.”  
Kana leaned back on her hands. “I don’t know what all I can answer, but I’ll try.”  
Levi looked at her before looking down at the edge of the roof. “There’s just never been a good opportunity to ask a lot of these questions. My first one…where did you learn about being a Slayer?”  
Kana gave him a sideways glance before she looked up. “My aunt and uncle… or… whoever they were. They told me about it.”  
“So they were humans that knew about Slayers?” Levi questioned.  
Kana nodded. “They knew my mom. Guessing that’s how they knew.”  
Levi looked back forward. “Were you using your Slayer power then, in that first battle in Trost?”  
Kana made an o shape with her mouth before clicking her tongue. “Uh… inadvertently. I’m going to be totally honest with you. My aunt and uncle filled my mind with all sorts of information about it but it’s not like I was using my Slayer abilities as a kid. Until the first moment I used Mizuki against the female titan, I had myself convinced they were psychopaths telling me fables. I grew suspicious when I was alone in Trost. I saw the red lines on my skin and knew then that there was something different. But…I couldn’t hardly even remember the things they told me at that point. Then Mizuki showed up. It confused me at first but several times I’d noticed it felt like she almost melted out of my skin. The first time she did that, every word my aunt and uncle told me came rushing back and I knew it was true.”  
Levi looked back forward. “I see.”  
Kana scooted back up. “You…look like there’s more to this interrogation than just curiosity. How come you hadn’t asked these questions before?”  
He looked at her. At first he thought to cover up the truth since he didn’t know how she’d react. But…he didn’t want any lies between them. “Erwin accused me of blindly trusting you despite obvious flaws in the logic of stories you’d told us. He wasn’t wrong. I did. I never thought to question the things he brought to my attention. I wanted to ask you those things…just to know what you’d say.”  
Kana leaned her elbow on her knee and her cheek against her knuckles. “And what if I’d flat-out lied to you, Rivi? What if I made up something obviously fake?”  
He glared softly at her. “I’d probably knock you senseless.”  
Kana laughed out loud. “Why is it that I’m the slayer but you can still beat the shit out of me? We’re gonna find out one day that you’re the actual super human.”  
Levi smiled at this before his expression turned a bit more serious. “On to my own questions though.”  
“The interrogation continues…” Kana giggled. “You sure I shouldn’t be down there in that torture cell getting my nails ripped out?”  
Again he glared playfully at her. “Oh I can tie you up if that’s what you want.”  
She licked her lips. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Rivi. Lay it on me. What else is on your mind?”  
Levi paused at this. He was a bit surprised by her willingness to answer any and all of his questions with no hesitation. He could tell that she felt the same about not wanting any secrets between them. Moments like these made him all the more certain in his decision that he could blindly trust this woman. “Meria said that a Slayer could only ever have one weapon.”  
“Oh yeah.” Kana stated. “Wanna know the truth? I thought that too. I have no idea how I was able to use Isabel and at the time I did it… I wasn’t sure if I really could. It… was a risky gamble. I don’t know if it’s ever been done before. So unfortunately… I don’t think I can answer that one. I honestly don’t know. Sorry.”  
His gaze softened and he mussed her hair. “Don’t apologize, stupid.”  
Her gaze warmed as she looked up at him. “Been a while since you called me stupid.”  
His hand slid down, grazing her cheek. “Yeah… it has.”  
She smirked. “Jerk.”  
A smile answered her before he got back on topic. “She told us a lot of other things as well. About the birth of weapons. And your namesake – those flowers. She had three and she gave one to the other Slayers. It played a big part in how Tsuki was able to get you back.”  
“Wow. I can’t believe she found three of them…” Kana stated. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one myself.”  
Levi frowned. “Sorry. Maybe we’ll find another once we get outside the walls. The last thing she talked about was being able to use the full strength of a weapon – by syncing with humans. Did you know about that?”  
Kana sat up and blinked. “No. I didn’t.”  
Levi carried on, explaining to her about what Meria had told them and how it had been done. Tsuki was the only one familiar with the process. Leah and Armin had discussed it, but they hadn’t bound themselves yet. And for some reason Demi seemed reluctant to discuss it – mostly because she’d been so suspicious and against Meria.  
Kana smirked. “Can’t blame her. She didn’t like me, doesn’t like my mom.”  
“She was convinced your mother wanted to kill you.”   
Kana sighed. “Ah, she may not have cared if I lived, but she didn’t want me dead. I dunno where she pulled that from.” When she looked back at Levi, she could tell there was a question on his mind.  
Finally he asked, “If that process can bring out the true strength of the weapon…do you think it could save Mizuki?”  
Kana’s eyes widened and she looked down at the weapon in her lap. For several seconds she stared before her gaze softened and she shook her head. “It can only bring out the strength the weapon has already…not give it new strength it doesn’t have.” She brushed her hand along the blade. “It was a good thought though.”  
Levi reached over and placed his hand gently on hers. He whispered softly, “If there is something we can do… tell me. I’ll do it if it’s within my power.”  
Kana leaned to him again. “I know you will, Rivi. I know.”  
He gently cupped her chin with his index finger, tipping her head up so he could kiss her slowly and softly. Her heart immediately started pounding like crazy as she gently kissed him back. His lips were so soft and delicate – a sharp contrast to everything he showed the rest of the world. He started to pull back but she quickly cupped the back of his head and pulled him back in more eagerly. They kissed for several minutes before she reluctantly withdrew, but only to curl herself back up against him. “Thanks for coming out here to check on me.”  
“I came out here to scold you for disobeying orders and taking patrol alone.” He argued gently.  
Kana rolled her eyes. “Yeah whatever. You’ll find any excuse in the book.”  
“Yeah…” He whispered. “Any excuse to get a moment with you.”  
Kana’s cheeks turned as crimson as her hair as she hid it away against his shoulder.

It was the next morning and Kana was sipping coffee like she usually did. However, unlike usual, she wasn't gossiping with Demi. Demi was with Eren, discussing something important about something he remembered. It was clearly important because as soon as they finished talking,Hanji hurried back to report to Erwin.   
Hanji's squad was still lingering at the cabin with theirs though. With the sun rising high in the sky, it was nearly time to begin the next phase of the mission. Everyone looked less than stoked though. It was like an unwritten agreement between all of them that no one wanted to do this and they were all being held against their wills.   
Tsuki finally walked up behind Kana and patted her back as she asked, "How are you feeling?"   
"Exhausted." Kana admitted. "I can't hardly close my eyes."   
"Why not?" Demi asked worriedly.   
Kana pressed the heel of her hand to her temple and mumbled, "I... keep having nightmares. I don't know what about... but there's a lot of screaming and blood... and begging."   
Demi laughed from the other side of the room where she came down, "What, are you growing human feelings for the torturing? Sounds like you're taking it harder than anyone else!" She shook her head. "Just forget about it. Remember that guy was the one who killed Pastor Nick, an innocent man who didn't deserve it."   
Kana looked down at her cup. "It's mine."   
"Your coffee?" Tsuki questioned.  
"The voice in my dreams. Being tortured."   
"What, you think you'll end up the same way? Just cause your weapon is immobile, doesn't make you - " Demi stopped.   
"Even though she's still here." Kana stated slowly. "Mizuki has no power left to give me if I die. Right now, I'm as human as the rest of them."   
Tsuki frowned. “Do you think that’s why you’re having nightmares? Cause you’re worried you’ll die?”  
Kana scoffed weakly. “No… I’m having nightmares because I can’t get everyone elses deaths out of my head.”

The squads both gathered in the main room of the cabin not that much later – as well as two men: the old fat man they had struck a deal with and one Kana didn’t recognize.   
Levi asked, "What happened with Hanji?"   
Eren stated, "She said she had something urgent to discuss with the Commander and left in a big hurry."   
Levi grumbled. "That four-eyes..." One of Hanji's squad members was drinking her coffee on the other side of the room and he told her, "Nifa, thanks for working with the transmissions throughout the night."   
She nodded with a smile.   
Kana smirked a bit as well. Why did no one else see what she saw in him? He always went out of his way to let people know when they did a job well done. He was a strong pillar of support, but all they were willing to see was what they wanted.   
Levi ordered Nifa, "Go ahead and tell everyone what it was Erwin ordered."   
Nifa nodded, but looked at the bench where the president and the other were sitting. "But what about them?"   
Levi explained, "They're from the Reeves corperation. It's fine, speak."   
Reeves stood to his feet. "It's no problem leaving my seat, sir."   
"No, stay and listen. That's what we agreed right? Not hiding anything. I'm trusting in you."   
Reeves made a face and mussed the hair of the boy next to him. "You're even trusting in my brat here, who I just introduced today?"   
"If it's someone of your corporation, of course." Levi paused. "Flegel, was it? Welcome."   
The boy huffed and looked up at him. "You're... Levi right? If you'd really like to welcome me, shouldn't you be putting out some tea?"   
Kana stiffened. What a rude son of a...   
The whole team visibly tensed up at the boys brash remark, as though waiting to see him get clobbered. Kana would have loved to have seen it. But this wasn't the time or place. She knew it, and she knew that Levi knew it.   
Reeves slammed his hand on the top of Flegel's head and barked, "I'm sorry. I've been taking him around to functions with the intent of having him take over for me someday. He's been spoiled so he still acts like a child. We'll leave and you can just tell us what we need to do afterwards."   
"No." Levi ordered. "We'll all listen here. This concerns not just the Reeves Corporation but the fate of this world. Which is why your power and your trust is important."   
Reeves nodded. "Understood. We'll stay, so please continue."   
"Well then, it's in regards to Historia ascending the throne as queen." Nifa began.   
Historia and the rest of the squad, including Kana and Demi both looked up in surprise.   
Armin repeated, "Queen?"   
Nifa looked at Levi expectantly, "Captain?"   
Levi paused. "I... neglected to tell my squad." To them, he stated, "It appears that the current Fritz Royal House is just standing in for the real royal family. The true royal family is the Reiss family."   
Historia's eyes widened with shock at the same time everyone looked at her in awe.   
Demi sipped at her coffee and snickered, "Ah, that's news."   
Armin raised his hand. "We heard something about allowing Historia to ascend the throne as queen, but is that the main objective of the mission?"   
"Exactly." Levi answered. "Historia, your thoughts?"   
Historia stood there for several moments, her eyes wide with shock. Kana supposed that would probably be a really surprising thing, learning that you're actually the heir to a powerful throne. She finally murmured. "It's impossible, I can't."   
Levi walked up to her. "Is that right? Being told all of a sudden to become the most authoritative figure amongst the people of this world. After all there aren't very many people who would possibly answer right away, 'yes, that's fine'." His eyes narrowed. "But... none of that is important. Do it."   
Historia turned her head away. "I couldn't possibly..."   
"You don't want to?" Levi demanded.   
"I-I can't..." She insisted.   
Levi grabbed her collar and lifted her up. "I understand. Then run away."   
Jean shouted, "Captain Levi!"   
Kana looked away. They, as the Survey Corps were being backed quickly into a corner. The Brigade was hot on their heels and trying around every turn to kill Eren, their only hope of Salvation. If Erwin, the genius who thought through everything, saw this as the only way, then they had no choice but to force Historia to do this. Once again, Levi was making himself the bad guy.   
Levi ordered, "Run away from us with all your power. And we'll also use all our power to capture you and use whatever means necessary to make you obey. It seems this is your fate."   
Armin stuttered, "Captain, stop."   
"If you dislike that, then fight." Levi ordered.   
"PLease let go!" Leah asked urgently.   
"Try to defeat me." Levi pressed. He dropped her and she fell to the ground, gasping for breath.   
Tsukiko and Armin both knelt down, checking to make sure she was alright.   
Jean shouted, "YOu didn't have to do that!"   
Levi coolly asked, "What do you guys thing you're doing tomorrow? That you're going to eat your meals tomorrow? That you'll be able to get enough sleep again tomorrow? Is that what you're thinking? That the person next to you will still be there tomorrow?"   
Kana had to look away at this. Her hand went to the beads around her wrist. She had mistakenly let herself believe that once. She had let herself get comfortable... get happy. And then it was all ripped away from her in a split second. She didn't need to be able to read Levi's mind to know exactly what he was thinking.   
"I don't think that." Levi went on. "And normal people don't think about that every day either. Which is to say I'm not normal. I'm an aberrant person. I think it's because I've seen too many abnormal things. But if tomorrow Wall Rose were to be broken, in such abnormal circumstances, I can respond faster than anyone and fight. Even if that hell were to begin again tomorrow. You've seen it with your own eyes. Who can say that it won't be tomorrow? However. As much as we want to prevent this from happening, there are people who want to get in our way. I'm fine playing the role of the abnormal person who would murder all of those people. And this may very well require beating people until they are unrecognizable. Because I would choose the hell of people killing one another rather thant he hell of being devoured by titans. Because at the very least... all of humanity wouldn't need to take part in it. If we were able to hold true authority int his world, then perhaps those who would have died can instead survive. That's good right? It's all up to you, Historia. Will you follow? Will you fight? They're both fine, so pick one. However - " He dropped down, shouting at her, "There is no time, so decide now!"   
At the very same moment, Historia shoutd back, "I'll do it!"   
Kana's gaze softened. Good girl.   
Historia let in a sharp breath. "My next role is to be queen, right? I'll do it. Please... leave it to me..."   
"Alright." Levi took to his feet and held his hand out. "Stand." He ordered. "I'm counting on you."   
"Yes..." Historia agreed.   
The room feel utterly silent for several moments before Levi ordered, "Nifa, continue."   
Kana had almost forgotten they were waiting to hear Erwins latest orders.   
The short haired woman nodded. "Yes. I will communicate the commander's orders. The plan begins tomorrow when Eren and Historia are to be handed over from the Reeves Corporation to the first Military Brigade." Kana sensed Demi tense up beside of her while Nifa continued, "The first Miliarty Police has left everything from the route to the rest stops up to the Reeves Corporation. We will take advantage of that. We will thus hand Eren and Historia over to the MPs. And then through Reeves Corporation, we will track them to their final destination. Thefinal destination refers to him." Nifa pulled out a picture with a man on it. "Rod Reiss. Historia's biological father. And the actual hiest authority within these walls. According to the MPs we've captured, everyone from the upper-level officials to the Fritz Royal house are under his command. As for he, himself, we will secure his person. And then we can finally have a true discussion. The ultimate aim is to change the current system. Before the populace, we will have the stand-in king pass the crown to the real queen and have him acknowledge that the system up until now has been a lie, in front of everyone. We must show them the light of the new order. And then once regulations to support the Survey Corps are in palce, we will finally be able to move towards sealing the hole in wall Maria."


	118. Ackerman

Everyone was busy getting things ready and prepared for transporting Eren and Historia on the next day. Kana and Demi were collecting supplies and were returning when they saw most of the team was just slacking off. All of them were still wearing the same forlorn look from that morning and Kana felt a rock settle in her stomach. She went to walk on by but Demi stopped and asked, "What's with you guys?"   
"What the hell do you think?" Jean barked. "That bastard of a Captain we have."   
Kana froze, immediately feeling her skin prickle in defensiveness but she forced herself to remain calm.   
Demi fanned her hand. "Just give up. It's not like it matters what you say. You're just a soldier. We all are. We don't get opinions."   
"The fuck we don't!" Jean shouted. "I'm not going to be bullied around by a superior!"   
"No one's bullying you, Jean." Kana snapped. "You signed up to be a soldier. The day you did that, you agreed to follow every order you're given!"   
"To kill titans!" Jean snarled. "Are you really saying all of this is okay!? He nearly choked Historia this morning to force her into doing what he wanted!"   
"Historia doesn't have the luxury of not following orders right now. She may not want to be queen, but if it's between forcing her to be queen and being killed by titans, which do you choose?"   
"Neither!" Jean argued. "We'd find another way. But all that matters to him is pushing people around. I'm sure he's just looking for an excuse to kill someone else."   
Kana dropped her supplies. She reached out, grabbing Jean's collar and shoving him back. "Take that back!"   
Tsuki shot up, immediately defending her human and prying Kana off. "Kana, I'm with Jean. He's always been cold. When you left the Survey Corps, he didn't care one little bit that you were gone. You were just another loss."   
Leah looked up at them. "Do you think we can switch teams? Or would we still have to kill people on other teams?"   
Kana felt her heart racing in her chest. What was going on? There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn't say a word of them without spilling their big secret.   
"It's not like we have a choice now, guys." Armin told them. "We're already in this, we're already here. Where would we go?"   
"There's nothing to run from! We're doing the right thing!" Kana argued.   
"The right thing is torturing people?" Jean demanded. "They enjoyed it! They're fine with this kind of stuff. But we're not! We have hearts! We're not cold-blooded like they are!"   
Kana couldn't resist. She took a swing, hitting him square in the jaw at the same time Tsuki yanked her back. "Knock it off dammit! Kana, open your damn eyes! Look at where we are! We're fighting humans now!"   
Kana panted, but her eyes went to Demi, searching for help. She rubbed the back of her head and stated, "I don't care about the other stuff, but they're throwing Eren to the wolves."   
Tsuki knelt down to Jean and touched his cheek. "Are you okay?"   
"Yeah. I'm fine." He slowly got to his feet. "But I'm done with this damn squad. I'm not doing a word he says from here on out. I won't kill people. My job is to kill titans. When we get back to that, come see me."   
Kana gritted her teeth and started to say something when Demi caught her arm. "Enough, Kana."   
Kana felt tears in the corners of her eyes. Why couldn't they just see? 

Later that evening, Leah and Tsuki returned from their patrol. Leah excitedly went straight to the kitchen, stealing some leftover soup. Kana noticed that most of the squad was in the living room, chatting together, but Levi sat alone, sipping his tea. She wanted to join him, but didn't want to raise suspicion.   
Tsuki, with her bowl of food, trotted in. "Next duo to rotate. Jean, Mikasa."   
Jean shifted his seat on the couch and stated simply. "I'm not going."   
Tsuki paused, "What?"   
"I'm not patrolling. I might have to fight a human. I won't do it." Jean stated, deliberately standing up and glaring at Levi. "Or, are you going to force me, Captain? Like you did Historia."   
Kana gritted her teeth and started to stand but Tsuki grabbed her. "What are you doing? If you lay another hand on him - " Tsuki paused, staring down at Kana's hand. Her finger hand landed on the rock on her finger. "Kana, is that - "   
Levi looked away and stated, "Find someone to take your place then."   
Eren glared at him. "No one wants to take your slack, Jean, just go."   
"No. I'm sick of getting pushed around. I don't want to fight humans. No one here does." Jean stated. "You've always been twisted, Eren, but the rest of us just aren't inhuman enough to kill people without hesitation."   
Kana got to her feet. She couldn't listen to another word of this without losing her mind. No one else was willing to believe in her Captain, fine. But she wasn't going to stand for it.   
Eren glared at Jean. "You have a lot of nerve." 

The next morning, Tsuki wouldn't stop hounding her. "You never even told me you were interested in anyone, let alone dating, let alone getting married! What the hell!?"   
"It's complicated okay?" Kana brushed her off, rinsing their clothes. "But it's not like it's anyone you know."   
"How do you know that?" Tsuki teased. "Is it someone from our training days? Is he home, eagerly waiting for your return? Have you been sneaking out to see him?"   
"No and no." Kana ordered.   
Tsuki puffed her cheeks and then stated, "Well anyway... You and Jean have really been going at it the last couple days... Can we talk about... you see where we're coming from right? About the Captain?"   
Kana stiffened. Gnashing her teeth, she forced herself to keep cleaning. "No. I don't."   
"He's ordering us to kill people. That's against our code. All of our codes." Tsuki stated. "Humans are sensitive to that kind of thing. He's a born murderer so - "   
"We're all soldiers! We knew we'd get these orders eventually!" Kana couldn’t argue the point that she wanted to. The fact that he wasn’t a born murder, that fact that every cruel thing he did, he did to prevent the tragedy of six years ago. It was so evident in the speech he’d given yesterday. All she could think about the whole time was Isabel and Farlan.  
We're just soldiers in his eyes. We're expendable. While you were inside the wall, facing whatever crisis caused you to leave, he just kept ordering us to go on with our business. We weren't allowed to go help you or talk about you or anything! He just made us work enough to cover up for your slack."   
"That's what you're supposed to do!"   
"Stop making excuses, he's heartless!"   
Kana stopped, flashes of everything they'd gone through in the underground flashing before her eyes. Her grip on the shirt in her hands was so tight it nearly tore.   
"We all want out. We're going to go have a conversation with Erwin tomorrow, before they send Eren off. Come with us."   
"I'm not - " Kana started.   
"Hey."   
They both looked sharply over as Levi walked up. Tsuki glared while Kana got to her feet. "Captain, sorry, I'm almost done with - "   
"If you have enough time to stand around and talk, you don't have enough on your plate. Tsukiko, if you're done already then go help Leah with the first aid supplies."   
"Yes, sir." Tsukiko said with a hissed bitter tone.   
When she was out of earshot, Kana stepped to him. "Rivialle - "   
He reached a trembling hand out, touching the side of her face. His lips affectionately brushed her temple and he whimpered, "Sorry."   
Kana could find the strength to breathe. She could literally feel how horrible his squad was making him feel and there was nothing she could do to help. Her own heart ached to take him away from all of this, but she knew the soldier in him would never abandon this mission just because he was hurting. He was a perfect soldier. Honestly... he cared too much. 

Levi sighed as he finally made it back to his room by the end of the day. It had been a long hard day but he knew despite how tired he was, sleep would continue to allude him. He had just shut the door when he realized he had company. He glared at Kana sitting on his bed reading a book. "What do you think you're doing in there?"   
"Hush. I told everyone I was crashing in Demi's room, so it's okay." Kana stated, sitting up and crawling to the end of the bed. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to her despite his minor resistance.   
He ordered, "Go back to your room. You're going to get us both in trouble."   
Kana ignored him, nuzzling her head to his neck, eventually he started to relax, accepting that she wasn't going to listen to him. When she felt this, she smiled and told him, "Now... you can drop the captain facade for a little while."   
"I'm not pretending - "   
"You're not fooling me, Rivi-kun... talk to me. You're safe in here with me. You’re the same now as you were then, just for different reasons. In the underground, you wouldn’t show weakness because anyone could exploit it and hurt you and those you cared for. Now you can’t show weakness because everyone expects you to be strong and never make a mistake. I know what you’re doing. It’s so obvious to me. You’ll make yourself the bad guy time and time again if it means no one else has to. But in here, with me… you’re not the bad guy…You don’t have to be strong…I won’t let you get hurt…"  
His hands slowly reached up, gripping the back of her shirt tightly and his body began to tremble. "I hate this. I hate being like this. But if I don't..."   
"You're doing what's best for everyone... I know." Kana whispered softly. "That's why you're such an extraordinary captain."   
"No..." He mumbled. "Tsuki's right. I'm heartless, I - "   
"Say that again and I'll kick your teeth down your throat." Kana hissed. "I'm the only one that knows the you behind the facade of Captain. I'm the only one who's opinion can even be considered."   
"Your opinion is biased."   
"That's because you've already made me fall in love with you." She scooted back across the bed, forcing the Captain to come with her. She sat back against the head board as he lay down on her, his head on the soft pillow of her breasts. His ear was against her heart, listening to it beat for him and him alone.   
He whispered, "I don't deserve you."   
"That's irrelevant." She told him.   
"One after the other... I've lost everything. Over and over... but of all these things, they hurt but I stood back up and moved on. Except you. You're the only thing in this world I can't handle losing. Every day is harder than the next, being near you and pretending like I don't love you, that I don't think about you every second of every day, that my hands aren't always shaking with the desire to hold you again."   
Kana’s lips pursed. “Maybe we should just…bite the bullet and tell everyone. I would love to. I don’t want to hide our relationship…”  
As he spoke, Kana slid her hand down, finding his and lacing their fingers together. His gaze fell upon the ring on her finger and he brushed his thumb over it. "I want to marry you right now. And tell everyone about us... but... at this point, I think I’d lose what little trust they have in me already. They’ve developed their opinions of me…and that’s fine. But they’ll turn on you, too, if we tell them now. I just don’t think it’s the right time.”  
Kana sighed, understanding what he was saying. She could already see it with Tsuki. But it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know everything behind the scenes. But what she could see, she knew her friend would not be happy about the news. She kissed the top of his head and softly whispered, "When the burden becomes too great, Rivi-kun... and you can't... handle it on your own... I'm always waiting to make you better. I will always be here and I will never betray you."   
"I know."   
Kana released his hand just long enough to shimmy off his jacket and remove his cravat so he could relax more. She would have removed his shoes, but she wasn't going to let him up from this position. She softly asked, "Rivi-kun, how long as it been since you slept decently?"   
He was silent for several moments before asking, "Am I that obvious?"   
"You always look exhausted to me. Get some sleep okay?"   
Levi squeezed her hand, closing his eyes. "You're perfect..."   
Kana smiled as she felt her Captain drift to sleep in the comfort of her arms. It caused a powerful feeling of happiness to surge through her. She couldn't even find sleep herself. Many of times her Captain had tucked her in, but never had she gotten to share a bed with him and help him relax instead. Her young rebellious Levi, yes, but not her Captain.   
She didn't realize how much time had passed, but somewhere along the lines, the sun began peeking through the window's blinds. Her fingertips ran through his bangs, softly tracing his face. He looked so peaceful as he lay there. She wished he could always look this calm and relaxed.   
Kana heard a stomping up to his bedroom door and she tensed, worried that it was one of the squad members coming up to make a request. But the door flew open and Hanji opened her mouth to complain but stopped short when she saw them. She rushed over to the bedside, looking at them in awe, and Kana's arms wrapped more protectively around Levi in the presence of the strange woman.   
Hange mumbled quietly, "I don't think I've ever seen him sleep."   
Kana shook her head. "I hadn't either. Not since back then."   
"I thought it was unusual he was still in bed." Hange stated, examining them. She made a face and stated, "We shouldn't wake him up."   
Kana shook her head.   
Hanji patted the top of hers and messed with her hair a bit. "You're good for him, Kana."   
Kana blushed softly. "Th-thanks."   
She stood and flicked her hand. "Tell him to come see me when he wakes up."   
She nodded again. When Hanji left her gaze went back down to her captain, her heart hammering in her chest. She couldn't believe the sound of it hadn't woken him up yet. In a strange way, seeing him without that typical scowl on his face, made him look years and years younger.   
After a while longer of silence, she felt her captain shift. He made a quiet noise and his arms wrapped around her torso. He returned to stillness. He stayed like that a little longer then he moved again, slowly lifting his head up. His eyes met hers and she smiled, whispering, "Good morning, Rivi-kun."   
For a moment, his eyes looked like they did back then. The wild and untamed underground criminal who lived only for his small squad in the dangerous world below Wall Sina. There was a tiny quirk of his lips as he leaned up, tenderly touching his lips to her own. He whispered, "Good morning."   
He started to pull away but then he lowered his head, tipping it to her neck, smiling against her skin. Feeling that wonderful smile had her heart going insane all over again. Her fingers found the back of his head and she played with the tips of his hair, asking, "Did you sleep well?"   
He nodded, "I've never slept so well in my life."   
Kana's gaze softened. "That makes me happy... I wish there was more I could do for you."   
His grip tightened on her. "You do plenty, Kana. More than I deserve from you."   
"Enough of that." She ordered, watching as he sat up a bit, his gaze warm as he looked down on her. Kana reached up, brushing her fingers along his cheek. He seemed drawn into her touch, his own hands sliding up her body, tracing her sides. She couldn't resist any longer, leaning up, going in for a kiss, but he playfully shifted back just enough she missed. She tried again but he did the same, letting out a snicker of playfulness. She whined, "Hey...!"   
He smile only grew larger as he teased, "I recall someone doing the same with me once upon a time."   
Kana felt a tickle of happiness in her chest, seeing her captain enjoying himself like he used to. She couldn't help but teased back, "You must be getting too old because your memory is failing you."   
He glared at her, leaning down and nipping at her shoulder while he started to tickle her. She struggled under him, swatting and trying to get a couple careful kicks in. Finally she flipped him over onto his back and huffed. "You're picking on me."   
Levi arched a knowing brow. "I have a lot of payback, you know."   
She rolled her eyes, leaning her head down and kissing his lips tenderly over and over. He kissed her back, his lips slow but full of passion. After several seconds, Kana didn't want to pull away, but she did and told him, "Hanji wants you to come see her when you're up."   
He groaned. "Damn four-eyes. Guess I need to go see what she needs."   
Kana smirked, kissing softly down his neck. "Be good, okay?"   
"Says the troublemaker..." 

It was time to send Historia and Eren to the MPs. Demi was still furious, but aparantly after talking to Eren she had decided to go along with it. However, she was furious when she found out that Levi had put Kana in charge of watching over the switch and tracking them back to within the walls. But she had held her tongue for the most part.   
"If I can do business as far as Wall Maria again, I'll do anything. Even going all with all of this, like a fool."   
Kana watched as Reeves took his time getting dirt all over Eren. He asked, "What are you doing?"   
Reeves explained, "You guys are supposed to have been here for two days. It'll be suspicious for there not to be a bit of filth."   
The son, Flegel, stated, "Oi, Dad. Why are you going along with what that midget said? He's trash that would even raise a hand against a little girl like this, isn't he?" Kana narrowed her eyes as he continued, "That Levi guy, if he had gone on for one second longer, I would have sent him flying. Who goes and roughs up a girl like that?"   
"Listen, Flegel. I hope you will understand this someday as well, but the way you look at people is key to being a businessman. He's clumsy but softhearted. Honestly, given the state of our coporation and the Trost district just hanging on by a thread, there are any number of ways he could have gone about doing this. He's definitely someone that clawed his way up. But, miss, oh I mean, your majesty, your boss is a scary man, but, well, he's not a bad guy. Once you become queen, give him a good whack. And just dare him to hit you back."   
Kana smirked at the thought. Honestly, it would probably humor him. He didn’t want to be the bad guy if he didn’t have to, so for them to playfully challenge him back…she couldn’t help but feel that would probably make his day. Eren laughed at this too and told her, "That'd be good. You should try it. I wonder what kind of face he'd make."   
With a sigh, Kana made her way out of the tunnel. She made her way to the nearest tree where she'd have a good visual and be able to hear the exchange. She relaxed, seeing Flegel walk deeper into the woods. Her gaze went up to the sky. She felt a bit tense. This was her first big task since coming back from the past and she was still nervous. But she knew why Levi assigned her to this instead of Demi. Demi would have gone nuts if things got tense – she was not the quiet one. Meanwhile Kana knew what was riding on tailing without being caught. But also…it was probably the least dangerous comeback mission she could have.  
She wasn’t sure she was ready to back and fight a titan again. Just the thought…left her chest tight and cold.  
Only a few moments later did a cart arrive and a few men step out. Good thing she hid herself early. They shouldn't have been here this quickly? A man with a black trench coat and black hat walked into the small cave.   
She was surprised when a bit later just he and Reeves walked back out, with no Historia or ERen.   
Reeves looked at the nice looking carriage they came in. "That cart is..."   
"Hm? We rode it here of course."   
"What about the one we prepared to transport those kids? "We're taking mountain roads. This is better."   
The man snickered, "You wanted us to buy yours all along, huh, Reeves? Jeez you can't trust businessmen." Kana followed them further into the woods, being as silent as she could possibly be, still listening in. When they came to a stop, she paused.   
"By the way, Reeves. Do you know a man by the name of Levi Ackerman?"   
Kana froze, her eyes wide at the man's question. Was that a joke? Ackerman? As in, like Mikasa?   
Reeves repeated, "Levi Ackerman? That's the first I've heard the full name but that's the captain Levi from the Survey Corps, isn't it? Everyone knows him. Plus he's probably after my life. They must be searching like mad for these two kids we just captured. Can you do something about them?"   
"I taught Levi quite a bit." The man carried on. "That runt is my pride." In the same moment, before Kana could even react, he ripped out a knife and slashed it across Reeve's neck. Blood spewed everywhere.   
Who the hell was this guy!?   
Kana dropped down from the tree, drawing Mizuki from her hip. As she swung her blade down to strike the man, he knocked the blade out of her hand with the hilt of his own knife and landed a solid punch to the side of her head. It slammed her into a tree and she rolled down it, grabbing at the side of her head. She was seeing stars and the world was literally turning upside down for her. "Sh-shit..." She had never felt a punch hard enough to knock her silly. But how the hell? She’d been crushed by titans – so why was this mans fist so strong against her? Was it because of Mizuki’s weakened state?  
"Mijore? What are you doing here?" The man asked her. But then he stopped and narrowed his eyes. "You're not Mijore. Who the hell are you?"   
Kana shot up, grabbing Mizuki and going to strike him again, but he slashed the knife out and when he did, Mizuki shattered in her hand. Her eyes widened, watching the little black diamond like crystals dissipating into the air. Her weapon had finally reached it's end. She couldn’t think straight for a moment. She could hear the little black haired girl laughing. The playful quips the young girl would spout. The girl that was with her when all of this started, who unlocked her memories, who saved her life, who brought her back from despair, her best friend through everything – she was gone.  
She was so focused on her broken weapon, she wasn't paying attention as the man threw his fist forward, hitting her in almost the same place.   
She gripped her face, agony gripping her tightly. She trembled and shook, trying to see straight, but unable to make sense of anything around her. She heaved herself back up to her feet, but quickly collapsed again. He wasn't a Slayer, he wasn't a weapon. But he was so strong...   
"Captain Ackerman! As expected, both of them had numerous blades on their persons."   
Ackerman…  
“I knew it.” The man stated, glancing back at them. “Are all the company men dead?”  
“Yes, all three we found.”  
Kana kept trying to push herself up off the tree but she was fading in and out and she couldn’t see straight. Her gaze fell the sprinkle of black dust across the ground. Her heart ached. Losing Isabel and Farlan came back to her so fresh. How much more did she have to lose?  
The man known as Ackerman grumbled, “Poor Reeves… killed by the Survey Corps…”  
The other guy with him looked at Kana who had collapsed again. “What about her?”  
“Hm. Don’t bother. I think if we killed her, Mijore would probably kill us. You haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her yourself… but trust me when you don’t want on her bad side. I’m the unlucky bastard they handed her off to because she kept killing all of her other squadmates.”  
The guy looked in surprise. “So the rumors are true. She’s really that bloodthirsty of a killer?”  
He nodded and then turned. “Have anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment ready on the road there. I always though it was unwise to let a group that heavily armed run free. But now, at last, it’ll be time for the anti-personnel control squad to take care of them.”  
The guy turned and walked back over to Kana. “Time for you to take a nap little girl.”   
In the next moment it all went black.


	119. Coffins

Tsuki walked over to where Jean was sitting on a hay bale in a barn where all of them had been hiding for the last several hours. This was their randevue point to meet up once they discovered where the MPs were going to take Eren and Krista. She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Hey… are you alright?”  
“No. I’m not.” Jean whispered. “I…I don’t believe in what we’re doing anymore. I mean… before everything happened in Trost… I wanted to be an MP. I wanted to live a spoiled life not having to survive every moment of every day. Now… we’re trying to overthrow them and to do so… we’re going to be killing them. This… isn’t what we’re supposed to do. The Survey Corps is supposed to go beyond the walls and expand human territory, not kill other humans!”  
Tsuki looked down. “I…never thought this is what we’d be doing either…I don’t like it either. But… I keep hesitating. Erwin isn’t my favorite person but he is a brilliant commander. I can’t help but think there’s logic in his orders.”  
“I don’t care if there is…” Jean whispered. “I don’t want to kill people.”  
Tsuki’s frown deeped and she sat beside him, squeezing his hand softly. “I know…I know you don’t. That’s because you’re a gentle, wonderful person. I love that about you.”  
Jean gave her a small, warm smile. “Thank you, Tsukiko…” He cupped the back of her head and pulled her into a tender, loving kiss.  
Demi rolled her eyes, looking at them and smirked. “Get a room you two.”  
Tsuki stuck her tongue out at her friend.  
Leah, who was sitting next to Armin, commented, “It’s been a while, don’t you think?”  
Sasha agreed. “The sun is going to set soon. I didn’t think it would take this long either.”  
Demi looked over at Levi who had his arms crossed and was looking out the barn door. She asked, “So… should we go investigate?”  
Levi shook his head. “It’s a stealth mission. If we go intrude, we risk causing unnecessary hazards and could ruin the entire plan.”  
“But…” Leah whispered, looking down.

Kana opened her eyes slowly. The first thing she was aware of was the throbbing pain in the side of her face and down the back of her neck. She reached up and touched her skin, only to wince in pain. Her gaze shifted down and she saw the black dust between her fingers. Her stomach lurched and her eyes began to water. When she grabbed her shirt and squeezed, the red beads around her wrist rattled and her tears came faster. “Mizuki…”  
Slowly she pushed herself back up to her feet and saw that the sun had just recently set. The sky was purple with the start of stars twinkling overhead. She rubbed the good side of her head and started walking back. This day couldn’t get any worse.  
It look way longer than it should have for her to get back. Once she did, the group came rushing up to her. Tsuki gasped, “Kana! What happened?”  
She had no energy left. She slowly shook her head. “I… don’t know…” She put her hand on her friends shoulder and squeezed as she walked by.  
Connie fanned his hands. “Well hey wait, we need to know where they went right?”  
“I dunno.” Kana stated, still walking.  
Demi narrowed her eyes. “Kana. Wait. Is Mizuki…?”  
“Yeah.” Kana whispered meekly. She continued again, dragging herself all the way into the barn and collapsing on the farthest bale of hay in the back corner. She buried her face in her arm. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

Two days passed.

“The Survey Corps has murdered civilians! Some soldiers have ignored the summons and are still at large! If you see anyone resembling them, inform the military police immediately!”  
“See? Just like I said. They’re the same group responsible for that titan fight inside the walls!”  
“They’re trying to use that monster, Eren, to destroy humanity.”  
“Oh dear…it’s so dangerous now, I don’t even want to go outside.”  
“But Captain Levi is the only one they’ve identified. They could be next to us and we wouldn’t even know!”  
Jean took a paper from the man that was handing out the wanted signs.  
“It’s terrifying.”  
“I hope the military police does a good job.”  
He walked down the alley, away from the small crowd. He returned to the stables that they had stopped their horses at just inside Stohess district. Majority of them were tending to the horses, but Kana sat in the corner, her head in her arms. Jean walked over to Armin and handed him the poster. “We can use that street. They were passing these out.”  
Armin looked at it. “This means the Survey Corps is dissolved.”  
Tsuki frowned. Kana hadn’t told anyone what had happened, but they had come to learn that Reeves was killed and the MPs had somehow managed to pin it on the Survey Corps. In response, they had taken Erwin into custody and ordered that all of them return to face charges. Their team had not returned, however, and had quickly become enemy number 1.  
Jean crossed his arms and looked down. “It feels like it’s all over. Just in general… I was prepared to die inside a titans stomach… but to think a bunch of angry humans are going to lop my head off…”  
Leah looked up. “Hey, it’s not going to come to that yet…”  
Armin nodded in agreement. “The commander is going to sit back and watch as they falsely accuse him and shut down the Survey Corps! I mean, I had all but lost hope when the company boss was killed and we lost track of Eren and Historia, but thanks to the Captain’s quick thinking our stakeout of Stohess district worked! It has to be that undertaker! Why else would someone stay at an inn with two coffins? And…If we can just get Lord Reiss… or if we can find records of how the walls were created… we can probably find out how Eren can harden his titan skin, too!”  
Jean scoffed. “Even if it all does go well… if you’re going to kill other humans, you can count me out. If the captain ordered me to kill, I still wouldn’t do it.”  
Leah and Tsuki looked away, silently agreeing.  
Connie, vocally agreed, “Me too. Captain Levi thinks he can use violence to make people do as he says. Just like what he did to Historia!”  
Sasha scowled. “Yet he acted so humble with the Reeves company! Threatening Historiya was when was practically a husk of her usual self! He probably did that to make her easier to control once she becomes Queen!”  
There was a loud noise and they all looked over to see that Kana had stood up. When she did though, she had punched one of the wooden pillars hard enough that it buckled and frightened a couple of the horses. They scattered.  
Jean glared. “Back to your senses enough to pick a fight?”  
Kana’s body was trembling, with rage or sadness, she had no idea. All she could do was mutter, “You’ll all regret those words when you wind up dead. Your half ass bullshit won’t save your own damn lives!” She collapsed again, sliding back down the pole and leaning her head on it. She didn’t have the energy to fight. Or argue… or anything.  
Jean looked away. “…whatever. I didn’t join the Survey Corps to become part of a violent gang. What I did was dedicate my heart to saving humanity.”  
Armin looked at them. “You can’t let yourself falter now…!”  
Leah squeezed his arm. “Are you okay killing people then?”  
Armin looked down. “Well… I…”  
Mikasa chimed in, “I always noticed something was off about that shorty…but I think our best option now is to follow his orders. And all of you should decide now, too.”  
A moment later Levi and the rest of Hanji’s squad returned. He looked at them, able to feel the tension. He stated, “Now that we’ve got an eye on their location, we’re about ready to move forward with the plan. Are all of you ready?”  
Everyone was quiet.  
Demi shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think any of these weakass humans are ready for this. You’ve got a team here of a bunch of pussies and one broken Slayer. Then there’s me. The only one ready to create a mountain of bodies to get Eren out of that coffin.”  
Levi glared at her before his eyes swept over the others and landed on Kana who was sitting against the pole, her back to all of them again. He started to walk towards her when Tsuki shouted, “Please don’t!”  
Levi looked over at the blue Slayer in surprise. “What?”  
“Please don’t force her to do anything.” Tsuki begged. “Don’t do to her what you did to Historia, I’m begging you. I don’t think she can take it.”  
Levi looked at Tsuki for the longest time but his gaze betrayed no emotion before he ignored her request and walked over to Kana anyway. He knelt in front of her. “Kana. Look at me.”  
Kana lifted her head just the slightest bit. She knew what he was going to say before he said it.  
“I know it’s too soon to ask you to get over it, but you have to. For your own sake and the rest of your team. You an asset at full strength and a target like this.”  
“I know.” Kana whispered. “I know.”  
Levi stood and held his hand out to her. “It’s time for you to get back on your feet.”  
She slowly reached out and with his help, stood back up. He added, “The original plan was for you join Hanji’s squad with me to stakeout but I think you should stay here with the others.”  
Kana hesitated, “No, I can go. You shouldn’t – “  
“It’s an order, Kana.” He told her. “It’s better fit for your state right now.”  
“I’m sorry…” Kana whispered. “I’m so sorry.”  
Levi’s lips pursed. He could see how broken she was. It was taking all of his strength to maintain his composure. Inside, he wanted to stop the whole mission and take her somewhere to recover and watch over her until she was better. But the future of the Survey Corps was riding on them. They both had to be strong here. He hushed, “Don’t be sorry. Get better.”  
She nodded.

“Two coffins… they’re being loaded on a wagon. No mistaking it. Unless they’re necrophiliacs or something, that’s the first squad.”  
“And Eren and Historia are inside those coffins.”  
“We almost lost them. But thanks to your prediction that they’d come through this town, we got here first.”  
Levi and Nifa were sitting on a roof, watching the men below loading a couple coffins into a wagon. Levi narrowed his eyes. “Something’s odd… they’re not acting like I’d expect the first squad to.”  
Nifa lowered her telescope and looked at him curiously.  
Levi continued, “The first squad figured out Reeves was on our side…They tend to think like me. Well… maybe more like him.”  
“Him?” She repeated.  
He asked, “Have you heard of Kenny the Ripper?”  
Nifa gasped, “The mass murderer from the city? The one they slit the throats of over a hundred MPs who tried to capture him? That’s just an urban legend from decades ago, though.”  
“He exists.” Levi said simply. “It’s all true. I lived with him for a time when I was a kid.”  
Nifa laughed awkwardly. “How can you joke around at a time like this captain?” She went back to looking through her scope, but when she did, she gasped and lowered it again. “Uh… Captain… I think… one of your squad is down there.”  
Levi gave her a bizarre look. “What are you talking about?”   
She handed over the scope and pointed down. “There, she just walked out of that building.”  
When Levi looked through, his eyes widened when he saw a woman step in between a couple of the men. Her back was two them, so all they could see was the long crimson hair. It was unmistakably her.  
“What the hell…Kana…?” Levi whispered.   
Before he could even think anything more, he heard a light noise behind them and spun around just as two gunshots went off. The bullet aimed for him hit just over his shoulder. He had gone to push Nifa out of the way of the other, but he could already see the blood splatter through the air. He looked over to see that the shotgun blast had torn her face clear off and he dropped lifelessly onto the rooftop.  
He flipped around to the other side of the short chimney, out of range, just as he heard two more gun shots go off. He didn’t have to see them to know what they were. The other two of Hanji’s squad had been ambushed and immediately taken out. A couple screams confirmed his suspicions and he took a deep breath.  
The man on the roof growled, “Hey, Levi. Look at how ya’ve grown.” The man, the same as the one who killed Reeves, was now wearing maneuvering gear and triggered a hook into the chimney Levi was behind and swung himself up into the air and over so he was back in range of Levi. “No… ya haven’t really changed much, have ya!?”  
Levi snarled, “Kenny!” He pulled one of his blades out and threw it at Kenny who immediately blasted it away with a single shot but Levi had already covered himself with his hood so the second shot was off the marker. He dropped down, almost coming face to face with Nifa’s corpse. He gritted his teeth, closing his eyes and forcing himself to run away. He shot off the rooftop with his own gear and took off across several more.  
Kenny snickered, “I thought ya’d run.”  
Levi swung from building to building, trying to keep the carriage with the caskets in his view. “Dammit. He can read my every move…at this rate, I’ll lose the two in the caskets along with my team. Of all the people…how is he an MP?”  
From behind another building, three more people jumped out and all fired shots straight at him. Levi released his gear, slowing his moves just enough that the rain of bullets missed and he swung down and around them. “An ambush… that bastard…” He slid along the ground between two building but every shot, even when it missed, was tossing up rubble in his face. It caused several cuts , dripping blood into his vision. He looked over as he lef the alley and reeled himself into a bar, right through the doors.  
He landed on the bartop and wiped the blood out of his eyes.  
A couple of men that were eating looked over in total shock and mumbled, “I-It’s Levi… of the Survey Corps.”  
Without wasting another moment, he dropped behind the bar as Kenny walked in. “I can smell ya. It’s the stench of a filthy rat. I know you’re in here you little rodent! The laws here to shoot down the bad guys!” He paused, not seeing him. “Huh? You’re not here?”  
Levi growled. “I’m here, Kenny. Been a while.”  
Kenny scoffed. “Yeah. Brings me back! Lemme see your face!”  
“Are you kidding me? You just sprayed it with a shotgun.”  
“Heh! I’m here today to see what color your brains are.”  
Levi grumbled, “I didn’t think you were still alive, Kenny. So you’re an MP now? After kill that many of them? To be honest, this is the first time I’ve ever laughed at one of your jokes.”  
Kenny growled, “I wouldn’t expect a kid to understand how adults work. Oh, sorry. Your high confused me. Guess you’re all grown up now. I was hoping to see ya in action. Never thought this is how ya’d use all those tricks I taught ya. Though… I never woulda tried to hide in a saloon like this. Didn’t I ever teach ya about cornerin’ a rat? No matter which way ya try to go, we’re just gonna swoop down on ya.” As he rambled, Levi was loading a shot gun that the bar owner had kept under the counter. At the same time, Kenny picked up a chair and threw it into the liquer lining the wall. “So Levi.” He continued. “I think I understand why ya joined the Survey Corps. All we could see for ourselves was a lifetime of livin’ in a garbage dump. It took everything we had just to make it to the next day. The day we found out how big the world really was… ya of course it hurt. Because we found out how meaningless our sad little lives really were. But something saved us. We found something we wanted to do. It’s simple. Simple, but true. Hobbies make life worth living.”  
“Hobbies?” Levi repeated. “So… is blowing my soldiers’ heads off one of your hobbies?”  
“Yeah I’ll kill anyone if that’s what it takes to get the job done. Ya kill, too, when it benefits ya, right?”  
“Yeah.” Levi stated. He started to raise the shotgun to blst him using just the reflection of one of the wine bottles when a humming filled the saloon.  
Kenny looked over to see someone sitting at one of the tables, a black poncho pulled up over their head. Her legs were crossed and her nails tapped the table. “Kenny. I want this one.”  
Kenny glared at her. “Mijore. You’re not supposed to be here. I thought you were with the coffins.”  
“I got bored.” She stated. “Guard duty isn’t my thing.”  
“I figured you’d just kill the others if you got bored.” Kenny stated. “Why’d you come out here?”  
“Personal.” She stood up and walked over. “So…are you going to let me have this or will I be killing you, too?”  
Kenny hesitated and his eyes narrowed. “I don’t plan to die to-“  
The shotgun blast sounded and hit him square in the chest,sending him flying back out of the saloon. The cloaked girl laughed. “Well, guess it wasn’t up to him.”  
Levi jumped back up on the bar and tossed the gun back to the barkeep. “Thanks, old man.” He looked over at the doorway, seeing the cloaked woman remain standing there. All he could see was the wicked grin under her black hood. He threw a chair out the window and as soon as he heard the two shots, he launched out after it, turning in air and triggering his gear into the throat of one man on the roof. He reeled him in as he landed on the other roof and used him as shield, running at the other two men. He easily sliced through them.  
Just as Levi went to jump off the rooftop, a black shadow soared up in front of him. The cloaked woman intercepted him and landed a kick straight to his chest and sent him flying back. He caught himself just as she landed right in front of him, going in for a punch, but he ducked to the side. He brought a sword up to slice through her, but she caught the blade in her hand.  
She licked her lips. “My you are talented.”  
Levi snarled. “Who the hell are you?”  
“Now I think that’s the question we all want answered, huh?” She turned and went to kick Levi, but her caught her ankle and flipped her over himself before reeling back away from her. He didn’t make it very far before a black spike shot out of the ground in front of him and then morphed into a rope, wrapping around him and slamming him down into the street. He rolled over just before Mijore slammed her foot down where he had just been.  
Levi flipped back to his feet. “You’re a Slayer?”  
Mijore grinned again, her tongue swiping over her lip. “I’m not just any Slayer.” She looked over when the rest of the ambush came flying at them. Six solders raised their weapons as they reeled into them. She straightened up and her grin immediately turned into a frown. “I really hate being interrupted.”  
Just as the others flew right down into them, a thousand spikes shot out from the buildings and ground and everywhere and stabbed through all the men instantly like they were pincushions. Blood splattered around them, across Mijore and Levi and the buildings and the ground. Mijore licked the couple drops of blood that landed on her chin off.  
“I’m the last fucking Slayer you’re ever going to see.”


	120. True Slayer Power

Sasha shouted, “That’s gunfire! I can hear multiple shots!”  
Armin ordered, “They found the Captain then, we’ll switch to his plan B.”  
Everyone started getting ready and climbing up on their horses, but Kana stood at the mouth of the alley, her eyes on the wall on the other side. Demi walked up to her and asked, “Are… you gonna help or…?”  
Kana’s eyes narrowed. “Levi getting caught doesn’t make sense to me.”  
Demi made a face. “I know you’re stupid in love with the guy but he’s not perfect, okay?”  
“But he’s not careless.” Kana stated and then looked at Demi. “I’m going to go back him up.”  
“N-ohohoho you’re not.” Demi gripped her shoulders and pulled her back. “You have no weapon. You’re just as defenseless and vulnerable as the rest of these human fucks over here, okay? You get on one of those horses and get going.”  
Kana looked away, feeling the harsh pain of the reminder of her loss of Mizuki. She glared back up at Demi. “I was supposed to be out there with him.”  
“And then he decided you’re not. Let’s go – “ Demi started to pull her around but too soon, she rushed by her friend and headed back to the wall.  
Demi shouted, “You idiot!”  
Tsuki gasped and rushed over. “What’s she doing?”  
Demi sighed. “Trying to prove herself again I think.”  
“Without a weapon!?” Tsuki shouted.

Levi glared at Mijore. She held her hand out to the side and turned her palm up to the air. In the next moment, black morphed out of her palm and formed into a long black sword with red lines. It curved just a bit at the end, almost like a hook. She turned and held it out in front of her. “Well, Captain. What do you say? Care to prove me wrong?”  
Levi’s gaze kept going to the wall of black spikes that had formed out of thin air and killed 6 soldiers instantly. He knew Slayers were dangerous and powerful but he had only ever seen them fighting titans. Seeing their strength in comparison to human was…potentially more frightening than a titan. He glared back at her. “Why are you helping the MPs? Aren’t Slayers supposed to protect humans?”  
Mijore chuckled darkly. “Oh you know what, you’re right. I completely forgot, I’m sorry.” She wasted no time charging forward and swinging her sword but Levi reached his up just in time to block the slash, however she was strong enough that she pushed him back until he stumbled down. Just as he neared the ground, he flipped over and went to trip her, but she jumped over his legs and flipped up into the air.  
Levi took the moment to straight up, but just as he did, what looked like a long black chained tail shot out of the ground and wrapped around his wrist before ripping his blade out of his hand. He gasped as Mijore came down on him, her sword aimed right for him but he yanked his other blade forward and happened to stab her at the perfect moment, piercing through both of her wrists and she rolled to the side.  
He quickly loaded another blade and cut himself free of the tail but spikes suddenly started shooting out of the ground towards. He reeled himself away with his gear but they were coming so fast. He barely dodged to the side as the wave of spikes went by him, but several slashed up his side in passing. He gritted his teeth. Not even getting a chance to breathe, Mijore was back on top of him, slashing at him with her sword.  
There was nothing he could do. It was taking all of his strength to remain on the defensive and keep himself from getting hacked up – let alone to take the offensive and land a hit.  
Mijore laughed wickedly before she jumped up, withdrawing her sword and landing a powerful kick to his jaw, sending him flying into the building. “Is this really Humanity’s Strongest? What a fucking joke.”  
Levi spit out blood and slowly stood back up, his teeth gritted as he glared at her. She mocked, “No wonder the titans chew you people up and spit you out. You’re the best there is and you can barely land a hit on me.” She lifted her arm that had the blade going through it and pulled it out. She casually through it and it stabbed into the wall behind him, right next to his head.  
He panted.  
He had to think of some way out of this – fast.  
Mijore smirked. “Humanity’s strongest… tell me… how many times has your entire squad been wiped out and left you the only survivor?”  
Levi flinched and his gaze filled with hatred.  
“Oh, did I strike a nerve?” Mijore laughed as she ran at him and slashed her sword. This time when Levi went to block it, it flew right out of his hand and she threw her knee into his stomach, coughing him to cough and keel forward, only for her to grab his hair and slam his face down into her knee.  
She laughed wickedly. “This is a joke! I don’t even have to try!” She lifted him up more by his hair. “Any last words? Is that the cliché villain phrase?”  
Levi glared up at her. He couldn’t see her face, but he glared to where her eyes should be. In the next moment, he raised the blade she’d knocked out of his hand from off the ground and stabbed it up through her neck and out the back of her head. She released him and suddenly started coughing up blood, reaching for her throat before stumbling back and falling limp against the wall.  
Levi dropped to his hands and knees and panted, wiping the blood off of his face. He should really be expecting Slayers now. It seemed they were popping up everywhere. He wasn’t strong enough to take one of them on. Not without the help of the other Slayers. He held his side and glared. He needed to go before she –   
The girl started laughing and slowly stood back up.  
His eyes widened. Even Demi didn’t regenerate that fast.  
She pulled the sword from her throat and tossed it aside. “Gotta say…that didn’t feel great. It was quite the last ditch effort though, I’ll give you that. If I was human, I’d be dead and you’d win. But…I’m not.” She raised her hands up in a sweeping motion and suddenly two massive spiked appendages raised up behind her and hovered over them. “Now I’m bored. I’m ready for blood.”  
Just as they went to shoot forward, a red blur soared by, landing a full-powered kick to the side of Mijore’s head and sending her flying down the alley. In the same movement, Kana landed and turned, grabbing Levi’s arm and ordering, “Let’s go!”  
They wasted no time, both of them taking off in their gear. Kana glanced back over her shoulder, “I knew something had to be up. Another Slayer… in the MPs?”  
Levi glared at her, “I thought I told you to stay with the others?”  
Kana looked back forward. She smirked, “Yeah, I super suck at the following orders thing.”  
They flew through the gate and quickly caught up with the others.  
Sasha looked around, “It’s Levi and Kana but where are the others?”  
They landed in the wagon and Levi immediately ordered, “Stop chasing the hearse.”  
Armin, who was driving the wagon questioned, “What?”  
Levi explained, “Our plan leaked. We’re giving up on Eren and Historia for now. Their plan was to use the two as bait to lure out and kill the rest of the Survey Corps. More ambushes are probably up ahead. That’s how they killed the other three.”  
Demi snarled, “The fuck we’re giving up on Eren! A bunch of stupid fucking humans don’t scare me, I’ll go in alone!”  
Kana glared back at her. “There’s a Slayer back there, too.”  
“And?” Demi barked.  
Ignoring her, Levi ordered, “Armin, go left to open ground as fast as possible. Sasha, Connie, you bring the horses.”  
They agreed immediately.  
“Jean, provide fire from the cart.” Levi continued.  
“Y-Yes sir…” He stammered.  
“Slayers. Get ready for when that other one comes back.” Levi ordered.  
Demi snarled, “What about Eren!?”  
“We just have to find a different way. And that’s assuming we make it out of here alive. Kill the enemy when you can. Understand?” Levi ordered.  
Jean’s eyes widened and fear filled his gaze. He knew it was coming but he still wasn’t ready – he still couldn’t take a life.  
Tsuki frowned when she saw the hesitation in his gaze. She gave him a confident look and promised, “I’ll protect you Jean. You won’t have to kill anyone, okay?”  
Armin shouted, “Captain! They’re here!”  
Another round of soldiers suddenly appeared up over a rooftop, all of them sporting the gun maneuvering gear. Armin took that chance to turn the cart down another road. Levi took off and stabbed his sword into the first guy he got to.  
Demi smirked. “I guess this will do.” She stood up in the saddle and held her hands out. Sarthis formed into a scythe in her hands but as soon as they did, she was overcome with a sense of dread. “What the…”  
Leah’s hand went to her stomach. “Oh god… I’m gonna be sick…”  
Armin looked back at her, “Leah!?”  
A shadow loomed across the street. Kana snarled. “The bitch is back.”  
Suddenly a cobweb of black spikes shot out in every direction, stabbing through all of the MPs that were ambushing them, as well as heading for the wagon.  
Kana shouted, “Leah! Barrier! Now!”  
Leah threw her hand out, “Djovaak!”  
A light purple barrier went up between all of them and the spikes just before they got through and they shattered on impact with the barrier.  
“Armin!” Jean shouted.  
Armin looked back forward in time to see that a massive black wall had gone up in front of the cart. He tried to turn the horses but he wasn’t fast enough and they slammed into the wall, causing the wagon to crash and the rest of them on horseback stopped.  
Tsuki gasped, “We’re blocked off.” She looked back to see a woman walking out of the smoke. From here, all Tsuki could see was a dark bray poncho and her meticulous thin figure. She came to a stop several hundred feet before them. She didn’t make a move.  
Tsuki demanded, “Who are you?”  
She didn’t respond or move.  
Levi held his arm out. “Everyone be ready. She’s fast and won’t hesitate to kill anyone. As you can see…” He looked up at the dangling bodies of the military police. “She won’t even hesitate to kill her own squadmates.”  
Demi spun her scythe around as she walked forward. “It’s still 3 Slayers on one. The bitch should be running for the – “  
Blood splattered through the air, making all of them stop. A spike had gone up from the ground behind Demi and stabbed right through her chest. Her eyes widened as blood dripped down from her lip and in the next moment, she collapsed.  
Mijore calmly growled. “I’m not a fan of the noisy ones.” She started to walk forward.  
Leah asked, “How did she… hit Demi around my barrier?”  
Connie stuttered, “I-I don’t think… she cared that you had a barrier at all.”  
“I can’t tell you…How happy I am right now…” Mijore spoke. “After all this time, that I’m finally here. I searched for so long…I came inside these shithole walls…melded with these shithole humans…I bathed in the blood of so many wretches… for this moment.”  
“What…moment?” Tsuki whispered, not sure she actually wanted to know the answer.  
“Fifteen years ago this all began…” Mijore whispered. “The first time I died… the first moment I realized how little my life meant to this world. The moment I decided that I would punish every person who brought me pain.”  
“What?” Leah repeated. “But we’ve never met you…”  
“You have.” Mijore stated simply. “You were all there. And then we met again… for a brief moment… through the window in that storm.”  
Leah’s eyes slowly widened.  
Mijore pulled her hood down to reveal crimson and a face that looked identical to Kana’s. The only difference was that her eyes were as black as coal and as lifeless as they come.


	121. Sacrifices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended Listening:  
> Nothing More - Go To War

Demi was slowly putting herself back together and struggled back up to her feet. “Son of a bitch…” She could hear Sarthis hissing in her head and she knew in that moment this look alike was the one Sarthis was actually after. 

Sasha’s eyes were wide. “H-Hey… anyone wanna tell me why there’s two Kanas?” 

Tsuki looked at Kana. “Do… you have a twin sister?” 

Kana shook her head slowly. “I have never seen this person before.” 

Mijore frowned. “You have. I just said you were all there.” Her brows pinched before her eyes narrowed. “I see. That bitch wiped me from your memories. I guess that’s fair. I did get a little… unruly.” 

“Alright.” Kana growled. “So we don’t remember you. Care to tell us who you are and why the fuck you look like me?” 

A dark grin spread on her lips. “Well I’m you, idiot, can’t you tell? Just a little bit…less reserved.” 

Demi started past Kana. Kana demanded, “What are you doing?” 

“Shutting this bitch up.” Demi stated, flying passed the red Slayer and going for her look alike. Mijore didn’t move an inch and Demi swung her scythe but it was met with a black tail that had swung around and caught her blade just in time. An evil smile spread on her lips before the tail wound around the weapon and yanked forward. Demi tried to pull her scythe back, but too quickly another tail came up and wrapped around her legs, waist and neck. It yanked itself together and snapped her spine backwards. Once she dropped to the ground, Mijore stepped over her. 

She looked up at the others through the barrier and in the next moment, a spike shot out of the building behind them and several tails shot out of it. Tsuki turned and screamed but they wrapped around Leah and ripped her pieces. Blood splashed all over those that were around her and Armin stared wide eyed at her broken body. His breathing suddenly began to go shallow. “L-Leah… oh god… oh my god…” The sight was horrifying to him. After all this time, and despite them talking about it so much, Demi was the only Slayer they had seen killed before. Now seeing Leah, who he cared about so much, in pieces, he suddenly didn’t believe what they said. There was no way that she could live from that. Slayers couldn’t be immortal. She was dead. 

Connie gripped his shoulder. “Calm down. She’s a Slayer remember? Her weapon is fine, she won’t die.” 

Mijore kept walking forward now that the barrier was gone. “I hate Slayers with annoying powers. Shields, Time warps, predicting death. Too bad she didn’t realize it was her own. But… what could she have done if she had?” 

Kana snarled, “You bitch. You haven’t even told us why you’re doing this! We were there the first time you died, fine, but we didn’t kill you.” 

Mijore’s gaze darkened. “No. You didn’t. But I died for looking like you.” 

Kana gnashed her teeth. “What the hell are you – “ 

Levi put his arm up, motioning for her to get back. “All of you need to get out of here.” 

Kana looked up at him. “What? You think she’ll let us leave?” 

Levi narrowed his eyes. “I’ll hold her off.” 

Mijore winced and cupped the side of her head. “Amusing trash human…I’ll kill you in an instant.” 

Kana snarled at him. “We’ll find another way!” 

He shouted back, “There is no other way! She’s killing you Slayers left and right!” He glared back forward at Mijore who glared right back at them in return. His teeth were gritted. He had no idea what to make of any of this. It explained what all of the others had been seeing – Erwin, Demi, Leah, all of them. But now the question was who was she? He glanced back at Kana who was glaring at her look alike. He could tell just by her reactions that she didn’t know anything about this other person. Did Meria? Was this who Demi saw her kill before? He had a thousand questions going through his head but he couldn’t think about getting answers right now. All he could afford to think about was how to get them out of here. She was faster than any of them and her attack was so wide range. She was able to sustain that wall in front of them, keeping them from progressing while fighting them. Her weapon seemed incredibly powerful. 

Mijore seemed like she was done waiting. She charged at all of them as two massive claw like black weapons extended from her body, going for Kana and Levi at the same time the other went for the wagon. 

Tsuki felt fear in her core as the large claw came at them. At this point it could kill Jean, Connie, Sasha, Armin – all of them in one move. She threw her hands out and screamed, “Stop!” 

Mijore dead stopped where she was, her eyes wide and enraged towards all of them. Levi had just wrapped his arm around Kana to pull her out of the way of the other claw, but it had stopped as well as the rest of the other woman. 

He looked back at Tsuki whose hands were shaking. Amaak slowly appeared and formed as the scepter in her hand. Once he fully appeared, the white hologram panel appeared over the side of Jean’s face again. His breathing stopped for a moment. His fear multiplied by a hundred times. That meant then that Tsuki was in every bit of a panic mode as he and the others were. She had stopped Mijore in her tracks, but the woman looked terrifying. The claws were inches from all of them, ready to break their bodies with a single swipe if Tsuki let go of time. 

Levi demanded, “Tsuki, can you hold her in place long enough for us to get some distance?” 

Tsuki slowly nodded her head. “Y-yes...” 

Kana had to admit, she was now thankful for her mothers interference. If everything she had said was true, then with Jean’s help and Amaak having been given a Silrause, she should have plenty of power to hold her as long as they needed. 

Levi pushed Kana back to the others. “Let’s go.” He ordered them all. “Pair up on the horses we have left. Those with gear on, use that to travel. We’re withdrawing, our only goal now is to survive, understand?” 

They all started to move, including Tsuki while keeping her scepter pointed at Mijore. Just as Jean hopped up on one of the horses and held his hand down to her, she felt an awful pain shoot up her arms and Amaak cried in her head. Jean pressed his palm to his own forehead, able to hear the screech of pain as well. 

“What’s wrong?” Mikasa demanded. 

Tsuki panted. “I don’t know.” 

Armin kneeled down and was picking up the part of Leah that was regenerating. She was much slower. He remembered conversations from before about Demi being able to regenerate quickly because of Sarthis’s abilities. Seeing Leah recovering had removed his doubt about the Slayers, but it still wasn’t fast enough for his liking. 

Connie joined him. “I’ll help you get her up on a horse.” 

“What about Demi?” Sasha asked. 

“We’ll get her.” Levi responded. “You guys just focus on getting out of here.” 

“We need to take into account we don’t know the distance Tsuki’s powers will remain in affect.” Kana stated. “We don’t know that they won’t wear out once we get a certain distance away.” 

“No of course not.” Connie stated. “It could never be that easy.” 

“One thing at a time.” Levi ordered. “Go.” 

Tsuki started to get up on the horse with Jean but Amaaks screeching was getting worse. How...!? How can a weapon be so strong? It’s resisting time stopping it. 

Tsuki hopped up. “Faster! We have to go now!” She raised her scepter and was about to focus more power when the building beside them suddenly exploded. 

A tendril of the black weapon shot out and wrapped around Tsuki, yanking her down off the horse and dragged her along the ground. Jean shouted in pain as he felt the burning along his body as she was yanked around. It picked her up and threw her into the other building. 

The claws that were frozen slammed on down where they had been. 

Levi cursed, “Shit.” 

Mijore stumbled forward. “God damn that power.” She rubbed her face and looked up at the tendril in the air. In it’s hold was the scepter Tsuki was using. 

Armin trembled. “She kept a piece of her weapon hidden so it wouldn’t be affected by Tsuki’s power?” 

The tendril recoiled back to Mijore and dropped the scepter into her hand. She brought it down and broke it over her knee. Amaak let out a cry of pain and transformed back to his fox form. Her black eyes narrowed and a smirk formed on her lips. “One Slayer down.” 

Jean shouted, “Don’t!” 

Tsuki struggled to get back to her feet. She had injuries all over her from the rubble but through the blood on her face, she could see her defenseless weapon in the hand of Mijore. She cried out, “Please don’t! Don’t kill him!” 

Mijore went to squeeze her hand on the fox to squash it but the second she did, a blade went flying through the air and embedded itself into the side of her face. She stumbled back but Kana went flying in behind the blade, slamming her foot into the bottom of it to shove it on through her head. When Mijore bent backwards under the impact, Kana grabbed Amaak and jumped in the air, turning and throwing him away from the enemy Slayer. 

Several tails of the weapon shot up around Mijore and went for Kana in the air, but a hook of manuever gear sank into them and Levi swung through, cutting through them at the same time that Kana reeled herself away. 

Tsuki ran over to where Amaak landed and scooped him up into her arms. Her body was shaking. This was nothing like fighting a titan. This Slayer knew exactly what to do to kill them. Human nor Slayer stood a chance against this person. She never thought she’d do it, but her voice quivered, “Please...leave us alone... don’t kill us.” 

Connie, Sasha, and the others were shaking just as badly. None of them saw a way out of this. 

Demi slowly lifted herself up, but snake scales were falling off her body. She held her torso where her spine had been snapped. “She keeps killing me too fast...Sarthis has to go into scale mode so I can get back to myself...” She looked up where Kana was holding herself up against a building with her gear. “Got any ideas here? We’re fucked as is.” 

Mijore laughed menacingly. “Tell you what. I’ll take pity on all of you.” 

They all looked at her, their eyes wide. 

Another sword formed in her right hand and she slashed it across the ground, kicking up some rocks around her. “You don’t all have to die here. Although I hate passing up the chance to play and spill some blood, the only one I have a vendetta against is myself.” She pointed her sword up at Kana. “I want my life back, Kana. And I can’t have it as long as you breathe.” 

Kana glared at her. “Yeah... you’ve been fucking with mine quite a bit, too, you know.” 

Mijore’s eyes narrowed and all humor left her. “Oh I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. How could I do such a thing?” 

Kana dropped back to the ground. “You could just not kill people all the time. That would probably help.” 

She growled back. “Why wouldn’t I? It pisses me off when I meet people and they call me by your fucking name. Once I’m mad, I just can’t help it.” 

Kana raised her sword. “So you just wanna fight me? And you’ll let the rest of them go?” 

Mijore scoffed. “It’s not like I’m saying I’ll never come after them again. I’m just stating a fact that in this moment, the only one I have to kill is you.” 

Levi narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. “Kana - “ 

“Deal.” Kana growled. When Levi came towards her, she pointed her sword at him. “Get the rest of them out of here.” 

“No.” He snarled back. “You’re not fighting her - “ 

Demi shouted at her, “You don’t have a fucking weapon, idiot, or did you forget!? You’re just a human now.” 

Mijore tipped her head. “What? Where’s Mizuki?” 

Demi looked back at her. “She even knows about Mizuki?” 

Kana gritted her teeth. “Mizuki is dead.” She kept her other sword pointed at Mijore. “But that doesn’t matter. I’ll face you without her.” 

Mijore narrowed her eyes. “All this time I hunted you down for our final confrontation and you don’t even have a fucking weapon? How boring.” 

Kana looked at Demi and Levi. “Get going. Now.” 

Levi pushed the sword out of his way. “The final answer is no. We’re not sacrificing you to - “ 

Kana narrowed her eyes. “Yes you are! You know the right choice to make here, Levi. None of us stand a chance against her. If we all stay here, we’re all going to die. If we do, then that ends the Survey Corps and with it, any chance for Humanity to advance! You know there’s only one choice!” 

Levi’s eyes widened. He knew she was right. There was only one clear right answer here. And if it was anyone else volunteering to being the sacrifice, he’d give them a noble send off and fight as hard as he could so their death wasn’t in vein. But it was her. It was the one person he couldn’t lose. The one person he couldn’t live without. His teeth gnashed. 

Then this was the end. 

He looked up at Demi. “Guide the others out of here. Do not let anyone die. Then focus on getting Eren back. Got it? Once you do, Erwin and Hanji will guide you.” He looked back at Mijore. “Kana and I will stay and fight.” 

Kana gasped, “No, there is no reason for you - “ 

“It’s my only compromise.” Levi stated. 

Demi sighed and turned away. “Fine. You can be confident that I’ll get Eren back.” She rushed over to the others, “Continue with the retreat, Levi and Kana are staying here.” 

Tsuki’s eyes widened. “They can’t! It’s the Slayers who should - “ 

Demi put her hand on her hair and pushed her forward. “That thing is no normal Slayer. Having a better shot at living doesn’t matter. You saw how easily she almost turned you weaponless. No one will live fighting her. This is their choice. Respect it.” 

Tsuki’s eyes trembled and looked back, seeing waves of black spikes suddenly flying towards Kana and Levi. They reeled away from the attack and looped around to attack Mijore but Tsuki’s stomach was in her throat. They were going to be their sacrifices? Were they really going to do this? 

Leah finally opened her eyes after reforming. She was shaking and Armin supported her, helping her stay steady. “Leah...welcome back...” 

Leah looked up at him. “What... happened?” 

“That look alike killed you...” Armin whispered. “We’re getting ready to retreat.” 

“What?” Leah looked over, seeing Levi and Kana fighting. “Are... we going without them?” 

“Yes.” Demi barked. “Now let’s go.” 

Kana flipped into the air as a tail flew by her and she reeled herself back in towards Mijore who was flying up at her. She brought her swords around to slash them through her, but she blocked with her own sword. She started to grin and flip Kana but Levi came up and slashed through her side, making her whip around and go after him instead. Kana turned and sank her own gear into her back, reeling her back to herself. Kana snarled, “You know, I still want answers.” 

Mijore turned to slash her but Kana dipped under the sword, but she was met with Mijore’s knee hitting her in the face and flipping her back. In the same moment, Levi came up behind her and tried to cut through her, but she spun and let the weapons sink into her arm instead. She punched into his gut and sent him flying away. 

All three of them landed again, but she threw her hands out, creating a couple more claws going back at them. Mijore mocked, “You want answers, huh? You mean, you want me to tell you what it is you’ve forgotten.” 

Kana rubbed the blood off her face. “Yeah. More or less.” 

Mijore started forward when a blast of white light intercepted her and blew half of her body off. She let out a snarl of pain and collapsed, looking over at Tsuki who was pointing her scepter at her again, panting. 

Tsuki shook her head. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry.” 

Levi shouted at her, “What the hell are you doing!? You have to go!” 

Tsuki felt tears in her eyes. “I can’t. I... I don’t care about the future of humanity or any of that...but...I can’t...let my best friend sacrifice herself so I can run away. That isn’t how Trinity+1 works.” 

Kana’s eyes were wide. “Tsuki...” 

Mijore narrowed her eyes. ”Oh so you want to stay and die, too?” 

“M-me too.” Leah stated, walking up. “I... don’t want anyone to sacrifice themselves for me...” 

The two girls stood confident despite Armin and Jean protesting behind them. 

Mijore smirked. “You ballsy little fucks.” She looked back at Kana. “Alright. I’ll give you the answers you’re looking for. But I need help.” She threw her hand out and her weapon wrapped around Tsuki and brought her to herself. It placed Tsuki’s throat right in her hand and she gripped the Slayer. “Why don’t we show everyone what happened?” 

Tsuki was shaking. “What are you?” 

Mijore’s black eyes turned more black and her weapon stabbed into Tsuki. Her power poured into Tsuki’s soul and snarled, commanding Amaak to follow her command. Terrified, the weapon yeilded. 

Kana shouted, “Tsuki!” 

Jean dropped to his knees, gripping his stomach where the weapon was stabbed into the Slayer. “Ngg! Fuck...!” 

Sasha and Connie both knelt to him. 

“Show them.” Mijore ordered. “Show them Reric, 15 years ago. In the basement of the Ironhold.” 

All of them started to glow with the blue Slayers energy. At the same time, the world around them went out of focus and quickly, everything moved and rewound, looking like a blur as though they were flying until it suddenly came to a stop. 

All of them were now standing in a long dark hallway. 

A woman and a man were walking towards them, both of them dressed in white clothes. The woman had slicked back brown hair and a clipboard in her arm. Her eyes were strikingly green. The man was much larger than her, stockier, and his hair was so blond it was almost white. His eyes were as blue as the sky. 

They walked by their entire squad as though they weren’t there at all. 

Leah trembled, “This is just like when Meria and Tsuki learned how to command her powers.” 

Demi’s eyes were wide and she instinctively followed the woman. “That... was my mom.” 

Mijore smirked. “Just remember, you sadistic fucks wanted this memory back.”


	122. Mijore's Origin

The woman rubbed her temple as they walked. “Corin, you don’t need to be down here every single day. In fact, it’s actually distracting.” 

Corin glared at her with his intense blue eyes. “I don’t apologize. Someone has to take responsibility for this horrible thing you’ve been allowed to do, Taina.” 

Taina scowled. “You call it horrible, I call it doing my job.” She pushed open a door into a large room. “The king gave me orders and I’m following them. He asked me to give him an army of the greatest soldiers the world has ever seen. That’s what I’m doing.” 

“You just don’t care what lives you destroy in the meantime, huh?” Corin asked, looking around at the technology that filled the room. There were several workers all performing tasks all around the room. At the far side, a girl was in restraints, connected to a machine that was connected to another – and probably all of those connected to each other. 

Armin looked around the room. “What is all of this? I’ve never seen technology like this. It can’t be real.” 

“It is.” Mijore stated. 

Corin walked across the room to the girl in restraints and smiled softly. She looked up through her crimson bangs as he asked, “Hey Kana, how are you holding up?” 

The girl looked away, tears in her eyes. 

Corin frowned and stood back up and demanded, “How much longer do you need her, Taina?” 

“Until I’m successful.” She answered, walking back over and handing him paperwork. “Look at these test results.” 

Another girl ran across the room and attached herself to the back of Taina’s leg. “Mommy, who is this guy?” 

Taina pushed her daughter back with her foot. “Not now, Demi. We’re busy.” 

Corin glared at her and tucked the paperwork under his arm. He held his hand out to little Demi. “Hi there sweetheart, I’m Corin Urube. I’m a knight in service to our king. Who are you?” 

Demi whimpered and hid behind her mother. 

Jean’s gaze went to Tsuki who was still in Mijore’s grasp. The guys name was Urube? Tsuki had to concentrate hard to watch the scenes around them through the pain. But she had felt Jeans question in her mind as she questioned it, too. She didn’t remember what any members of her family looked like, but his last name indicated that he was possibly related to her. 

Corin glared up at Taina and asked, “You experiment on her, too?” 

Taina smiled. “Of course I have.” 

He growled. “Honestly.” He started looking over the paperwork and his eyes widened. “You performed all of these tests?” 

“I have to be thorough to get results.” She answered. “But you have great timing. We’re about to start our first attempt. Would you like to witness?” 

“No.” Corin responded. “But... the King asked me to. So that’s why I’m here.” 

Taina smiled. “I’m so glad he’s interested. Let’s see how it goes.” 

For several minutes, Taina, as well as the others, all began plugging algorithms into this uknown technology. Corin kept looking at Demi who wandered around in confusion. He walked over and picked her up. With a smile, he told her, “You probably shouldn’t be in here. You don’t need to see any of this.” 

Taina put a pair of goggles on and grinned. “Alright. Here we go. Test 1.” She hit a button on the console and in the next moment, the room lit up with a bright light. Little Kana let out a scream of pain for several seconds before the light disappeared and she fell unconscious in the restraints. 

Kana stared at her smaller form. “I guess... now I know why I kept having nightmares of being tortured.” 

Demi was glaring at her own mother. What the hell was she trying to do? 

Taina pulled her goggles back off and walked to the large container like piece of machinery. “Let’s see what we got.” She opened the hatch on it and energy in the form of black dust evaporated out. A small form crawled out, whimpering in pain. It was like a little slugy pile of energy that wasn’t quite a complete physical form. 

Taina narrowed her eyes. “Shit. We were pretty off. Let’s look at those physical formulas. Sarthis. Take care of this.” 

A green snake dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of the odd form. It turned into a blade and stabbed itself right through it. It let out a cry of pain for a minute before it stopped moving. What little physical constitution it had, melted apart and evaporated. 

Corin commented, “So you’re nowhere near a complete clone then.” 

Taina glared at him. “That thing was alive. We’re very close. We’re just... touching things up.” 

Corin sighed. “Whatever you say. Let me know when you make real progress.” 

Mijore narrowed her eyes. “Skip forward, Amaak... A couple weeks.” 

Following her command, the scene around them began to blur by again. 

Levi’s gaze went to the back of Kana’s head. She seemed to be surprised by all of this since her memory was gone. But he could assume he understood where this was going. He couldn’t believe these people were cloning children. Why? 

The scene around them began to play again. 

Taina once again lifted her goggles and rushed over to the container. “Cross your fingers everyone. This should be a perfect clone.” She opened the hatch on the container. 

Everyone tensed up. Kana expected to Mijore step out of that container. Her hands clenched, waiting for it. 

A girl who looked very similar to Kana stepped out, but it wasn’t Mijore. This girl had black hair and black eyes. It was... 

Taina knelt down and frowned. “Well, she doesn’t look exact... Let’s see...” She concentrated her energy in her eyes and saw the the creature before her was just a weapon. Taina cursed and stood up. “Another failure guys. We only got a weapon out of this attempt.” 

Kana brought her hand up to her mouth, tears stinging her eyes. It was Mizuki. Mizuki was a clone of her? 

Sarthis raised it’s head and looked at Taina. “Kill it, too, then?” 

Taina glared at the pathetic little girl as she stumbled out. “No. I have a better idea.” She picked the little girl up and carried her out of the room. The scene followed her as she walked down the hall and down a stairwell. At the end of the second hallway, she pushed open a door. Taina looked at the weapon that was chained up in the room. Her arms were latched together behind her back, her neck bound in a heavy wrap that connected to both walls and funnels were wrapped around her legs, keeping her from moving them. “Meria.” 

Meria glared hatefully at the woman. Through the metal mask over the bottom half of her face, she snarled, “You have some nerve stepping in here. I’ll kill you where you stand.” 

“Oh don’t be like that.” Taina stated. “I promise to return your daughter to you once we’re done. If you’d just be patient and understanding, you wouldn’t have to stay chained up in here. But look, I brought you a present.” She held up the little black weapon. 

Meria’s eyes widened. “What... the fuck is that?” 

Taina frowned more and looked at her. “What you don’t recognize your own daughter anymore? This is our second attempt to clone her. I thought I’d bring her to you as a substitute until we’re done with your real one.” 

Meria snarled, “That is not my daughter! How dare you!?” 

Taina tossed the little girl down at her feet. “Suit yourself. Just trying to be nice.” She slammed the door. 

Kana couldn’t hardly find a way to breathe. That’s why Mizuki was so much weaker and more unstable. She was a weapon created from her. Her constitution wasn’t natural. But even more shocking was that...Mizuki was her. They had been one in the same. 

Had... Mizuki known that the whole time? 

The scene around them skipped to a few days later. 

The door to the experimentation room opened. Corin walked in with another woman. Both of them had children in tow. 

This new woman was dressed in fine silk clothes and gold with jewelry all over. It was clear just from looking at her that she was someone of a much higher nobility than the rest of them. Corin cleared his throat. “Taina. I’ve brought Queen Genette. She has questions.” 

Taina grumbled and looked back at them. “I’m busy. Give me a couple hours.” 

Corin narrowed his eyes. “This is your Queen!” 

Genette placed her hand on Corin’s shoulder. “Easy. It’s fine. I know how researchers are when they’re concentrating. Let’s leave her be. There’s things we can discuss until she’s free.” She looked back at Taina. “Where’s Demi? Can we take our children to join her while we talk?” 

Taina fanned her hand. “There’s a playroom down the hall.” 

Leah stared at the two kids with Corin and Taina. There was no mistaking them. The little girl holding onto Genette’s hand was her younger self. And the girl with Corin was Tsuki. She stared in awe as they were taken out of the experiment room. 

Taina rubbed her hands together. “I have a good feeling about this one.” 

Just like the times before, the room lit up with a bright light. When it cleared, Taina was already rushing towards the container. This time when she opened the hatch, the being that looked back at her was an exact copy of young Kana. Her eyes were bright with joy. “This is it. It’s perfect.” 

One of the other guys walked up and looked over it as well. “It’s pretty close.” 

Taina’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Her eyes are black. Why would only her eyes be a different color?” 

“It’s not just the eyes.” Another one of her men stated. “It’s readings are weird. They aren’t following in normal standard for a soul. It’s like she’s just flatlined.” 

Taina frowned. “So... does this thing not have either a weapon or a slayer soul?” 

“Or maybe it has some weird mixture of both?” 

Taina put her hands on her hips. “Hmph.” She watched at the creature just stared at her with a blank expression. She sighed. “We can do better. The soul is the important part here. If it’s showing erraneous results, then let’s try again. Sarthis. Kill it.” 

Just like before, Sarthis stabbed himself into the chest of the clone. It just stood there as blood pooled around the blade and then spilled out of her mouth. For several seconds, she didn’t move, just accepted the dagger of death. But then she reached up and plucked Sarthis from her chest and held the weapon out. 

Taina turned around, her eyes wide. “What?” 

One of the men commented, “That didn’t kill it. Maybe we did succeed.” 

Taina walked up to the creature and asked, “Can you speak?” 

The creature looked at all the cords and tubes that were linked up to herself. She blinked slowly and looked back at Taina. She turned the dagger around and stabbed it into Taina. She gasped and stumbled back. Sarthis immediately withdrew from her and changed back to snake form. Sarthis hissed, “I sense nothing from this being.” 

“But it didn’t die...” Taina stated, holding her bleeding chest. “This is good.” She threw her hand out when she saw one of her men going towards the creature again with another weapon. “Stop it! Cut off the life support. Don’t kill it.” 

The creature looked at her hand that no longer had a dagger. She flexed her fingers and when she did, her entire body rumbled with blackness, like scales coming to the surface and then disappearing back inside of her. She spread her arms and black spikes jutted out from her shoulders and elbows and then her hands. She pulled them back in. 

Taina’s eyes were sparkling. “She’s learning so fast!” 

The creature turned and held her hand out towards one of the men. The black spikes shot out and stabbed through him and smeared him along the wall. Several of the men shouted in fear at this and started running away. The creature turned and started throwing pieces of it’s weapon at them, killing each of them one by one. 

“What have you done!? It’s going to kill us all!” 

Taina couldn’t contain her excitement. “But it’s beautiful... look how powerful it is...!” 

It killed more of them and then turned to Taina. She was in a trance. “The black Weapon... to think it was capable of such power... this could change the wo - “ The creature sliced right through the middle of Taina. The pieces of her dropped to the ground. 

The creature looked at her hand. “Power...” She continued out of the room and down the hall and turned into a small room. She opened the door. 

Demi felt a shiver run up her back. “I... remember this...I’m under the - “ 

The creature smacked a cart out of her way, revealing three small children. Demi, Tsuki, and Leah all stared in horror at the other little girl. They were all about the same age. The other three girls screamed out of fear and held onto each other. 

The creature grinned wickedly and began to flex her powers more. Spikes formed all over her until she was in the shape of what looked like a small black beast. Energy rippled around her and a snarl left her throat. She started towards them. 

Before she could step any further forward, her torso exploded and blood splattered everywhere all over the children. Meria dove in and kicked what remained of the slayer. Mizuki was clinging to her back. Meria held her hand out. “Kids, come with me, now.” 

They were terrified and not responding to her. She looked over to see that the clone was already beginning to reform from her attack. She struggled to scoop all three girls up into her arms and left the room, making her way down the hall and back to the experiment room. Sure enough, on the other side, Kana was still restrained. She broke the restraints apart and her unconscious daughter fell into her arms. She lifted her up and picked up Demi as well. She stayed knelt down, “You two, grab onto my back and hold on tight.” 

They both just cried. 

A loud explosion erupted and Meria wrapped herself around all of them as rubble and smoke went flying everywhere. 

She lifted herself out of the pile a few minutes later and looked down, making sure she had protected all four girls. She checked that all of them still had pulses. But Mizuki was gone from her back. She didn’t know where she’d been blasted off to. She didn’t have time to worry about the clone. 

Looking back the opposite way, she could see that the entire building had come down. The sound of screams could be heard erupting in the streets and she knew the creature was beginning expand into the rest of the city. 

She struggled to get all four girls picked up. She didn’t have time to hunt down the others and see if they were okay or not. She had to protect these kids. She stumbled through carrying them through most of the village. In the back alleys she found a small wagon and she lowered the girls into it and pulled them along, out of the village. 

The scene stopped and they found themselves back inside Stohess. Mijore dropped Tsuki. “Not much else to see. After that I leveled the entire village. Killed a whole lot of Slayers. A lot of weapons too. But it was so fucking annoying. They kept calling me Kana. Like who the hell was that. I knew who would know... So I hunted down the woman who took all of you. Hunted her down to this place. That’s when I learned about you. All of you. I figured out that I wouldn’t be able to have my own identity as long as you were alive. She hid all of you from me. But now...I’ve found you.” 

Kana was staring in shock at Mijore. The woman was actually her clone. And her own mother had removed their memory of her entirely. 

Demi pursed her lips. “So...I wasn’t crazy then... we did all know each other.” 

Jean rushed over to Tsuki who was holding her stomach now. Tsuki gritted her teeth. “So...what you’re saying is... we’re just... going to be the end of that slaughter you started years ago?” 

Mijore chuckled. “Pretty much.” She turned slowly back to Kana. “So. There’s your answer. Doesn’t really change much. I’m still going to kill all of you. I gave the rest of you a chance to leave. Since you - “ 

Demi slammed into Mijore and sent her flying. She looked at the others. “I’ve had enough of her attempts to psych us out. No more talking. There’s still a lot of us and one of her. Super clone or not... she can’t win against all of us.” 

Tsuki stood up with Jean’s help. Her wound was almost fully healed. 

Before Mijore got back up, Kana turned to Leah. “We need you guys at max strength. Will you bond with Armin?” 

Armin’s eyes widened. 

Leah looked at him and could see the fear in his eyes. “You don’t have to say yes. Armin. It’s going to be hard and it’s going to - “ 

“It’s our best chance to survive, right?” Armin asked. When Leah nodded, he did, too. “Then yes, I will.” 

Levi glared at all of them. They’d ignored orders entirely but... if there was a chance they could survive this...He had to take that risk. They all had to. He held his hand out. “The rest of you cover them until they’re ready. And let’s face her with everything we have.”


	123. Leveled

Demi threw Sarthis like a shuriken but Mijore ducked under it and went to take a swing at her with her own sword. Before the sword hit her, Tsuki stopped time just long enough that Demi was able to move out of the way before it hit her. Mijore, annoyed, turned to hit Tsuki but Levi threw one of his blades at her, skimming her face, but she ducked under it, turned, and went after him.  
Kana reeled herself up to Mijore and kicked her in the side, sending her flying down, but not before several black spikes came out, surging towards all of them. Several cuts landed on most of them but none serious.  
Mijore rolled up and went to run at Leah and Armin, but Mikasa swung in and cut her off so that Demi could slice her back open. Mijore turned as her back was cut open and grabbed the green Slayer, turning and stabbing her with a chunk of her weapon in the face and pinning her to the ground.  
Tsuki came around, using Amaak in his weapon form, and flew down towards her with her swords raised. Mijore shot off the ground just as she was about to hit and she turn and kicked her in the face, sending her flying the opposite direction.  
Levi and Kana came down at her from the other side, both of them with their blades raised, but Mijore threw her arms down, creating a black wall between her and them. It exploded into spikes, getting both of them with several cuts but they jumped back out of the way before there was serious injury.  
Demi snarled as she peeled herself back off the ground, green scales falling from her most recent injury. ”Offense, Defense, Speed, Accuracy... is there anything this bitch is bad at?”  
Mijore smirked and rubbed her hand along her chest before blowing on her fingers. “The answer is no. I’m flawless. I’m what you Slayers are supposed to be. Dwell on your own flaws. You’re the imperfect ones. Not me.”  
Armin stepped up next to Jean, but now, like him, he had a hologram panel that covered half of his face. This one, however was glowing purple instead of blue. Armins eyes were wide and Jean sympathized with him. He understood what the boy was feeling. Joining with a Slayer was feeling that couldn’t be described. Feeling every emotion and thought and sharing those things with someone they were close to was so intimate. But Armin didn’t have the luxury of enjoying the sensation like he had. They were in the middle of a life and death battle right now.  
Jean asked him, ”Any chance you have a plan?”  
Armin shook his head. “N-no. I don’t think this is the kind of enemy you can fight with a plan. But she has no weaknesses either...I... honestly have no idea.”  
Jean made a face. “I was afraid you’d say that. But... I’m also glad you’re not telling me that I have to join in that fight.” He watched as they were all swinging around, taking and giving hits, blood splattering like crazy, but none of them were yeilding. He would wince in pain every time Tsuki took a hit, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep up if he tried to join in.  
Connie looked up. “To be honest...I kind of wish we could take on some titans instead of this chick...”  
Mijore went to slam her sword down on Tsuki but a lavender shield went up in front of her, stopping her attack. Mijore snarled and turned just as Demi came around and cut her arm clean off with her scythe. But the clone continued to turn and with her other hand, grabbed Demi’s hair and yanked her back, slamming her into the same force field.  
Leah held out her bow and fired an arrow but Mijore turned, taking it to her shoulder instead of her chest. But her dodge but her right in Levi’s path and he sliced downward. Mijore flipped out of the way, losing her other arm but she landed on the ground away from them. Almost immediately her arms came back and she turned back around.  
Leah asked, “What good is this!? Every hit we land, she just recovers like we did nothing. We can’t kill her.”  
Tsuki panted. “But she can kill us.”  
Demi growled, “So we just keep chopping away until she gets bored.”  
Mijore glared at the green Slayer. “You think that’s how it’s gonna work?” She smirked and dove forward, her weapon shooting out from both of her arms. In the blink of an eye, she slashed through Demi’s waist, then Tsuki’s waist, and headed for Leah, Kana, Levi, and Mikasa. Leah threw her hands up and created a forcefield and Mijore slammed into it headfirst. A snarl ripped out of her.  
Jean dropped to the ground, shouting in pain and holding his stomach. He knew he had no injury but it felt like he could feel his own insides being torn apart. The searing pain reached from head to toe and left him unable to catch his own breath. Armin knelt down to him, “Jean...!”  
Mijore slammed her weapon into the the shield again and glared at them through it. “I really fucking hate these special abilities you fucks have.” She slammed her hands down on the ground.  
Kana shouted, “Move!”  
They all dove different directions as the black weapon shot up underneath them. Kana felt one edge of it slice the side of her leg, one that stabbed through Levi’s shoulder, one knicked Mikasa’s leg, but one went right through Leah’s stomach.  
Mijore smirked when she saw that it did and the weapon exploded out, tearing her apart.  
Kana snarled in rage and Mikasa looked over in fear when she heard Armin screaming in pain. She went to charge at Mijore but Kana and Levi grabbed her and pulled her back. Kana snarled, “Don’t you dare, you’ll get yourself killed!”  
Kana gritted her teeth, glaring at Mijore. She’d killed the Slayers so many times, it was only a matter of time before she killed someone that wouldn’t come back.  
Demi slowly got back to her feet and looked at Tsuki who was reforming much more slowly. She glared at Mijore. They had to do something. Defeating this woman was standing in the way of her getting back to Eren and protecting him.  
It seemed as though this woman was always in her way. Her mothers experiments had kept her from ever caring for her own child. And now… she was potentionally getting in the way of her saving Eren’s life.  
Demi snarled, “We need to come up with something! We’re not getting anywhere.”  
Mijore rolled her eyes and turned back to the green Slayer. “No, you’re not.”  
They went at it several more times, but every exchange of blows ended up the same way. Mijore cut through them, over and over. Even with Tsuki and Leah fully bonded with Jean and Armin, they weren’t able to do any permanent damage to her. Everytime they took a limb off, it came back. Every lethal stab was useless if it didn’t impose her movements. The lucky few times they’d land a killing blow, it took only seconds for the devil to come back.  
They were exhausted, wounded, bleeding, desparate.  
Jeans hands were clenched. Their best fighters were all facing off against this one Slayer and it was doing nothing. In fact, she didn’t even look exhausted. The coy smile on her lips remained – she wasn’t even threatened by them.  
Tsuki glanced over at Jean. _Don’t give up hope! We’ll figure out something!_  
Jean swallowed hard. _I… want to believe that too, Tsuki… but… your attacks… killing her doesn’t do any good! So how…? How do we win here?_  
Tsuki looked at her hands. _What if… maybe I can send her into the future… so far that we’ll never see her again…?_  
Jean’s eyes widened. Doing that would put her as someone elses’ problem but… he couldn’t think about that right now. They just had to get out of this. _We can do that to at least buy time…!_  
Jean looked at the blond boy beside him. “Armin. Can we use Tsuki’s power?”  
Armin’s eyes widened. “Send Mijore through time? Well we can’t send her backwards, she’d just end up here but with two of them. If we send her forward…It might be the only way to at least get us a breather here.”  
Jean narrowed his eyes. _Tsuki. Do it._  
Tsuki held her hand out and whispered to Leah, “Cover me. I’m going to open a portal.”  
Leah nodded. “Got it.” She created a shield in front of her friend and then in front of herself. Mijore danced between slashes from the others and Leah jumped headfirst into the fray, knocking Mijore back and opening her up for another hit from Demi.  
It sent her into the ground and Mikasa came around for a sweeping cut, but the clone pushed herself up and raised her sword to slash right at her. Her eyes widened and Kana flew by, catching her ankle last minute and yanking her back out reach, but it caused the tip of Mijore’s weapon to slash up her forearm. Blood splattered across her face but she reeled herself back out of range.  
Levi landed beside her. “Are you okay?”  
“Fine.” Kana growled, looking at her clone. “But that won’t matter at this point.”  
Levi’s teeth were gnashing. “We have to get her away from her weapon to kill her right? We have to kill the weapon first. But… in that memory.”  
Kana’s eyes were blazing with fury. “If what we heard in that memory was correct, then she’s both the Weapon and the Slayer. Which means we can’t sparate them… which in turn means…”  
Levi cursed. “She can’t die.”  
Armin glanced up when he heard shouting and he and Jean looked back to see a huge force of the MPs coming towards them. His eyes widened and he shouted, “No stop! Don’t come any closer to this fight!”  
The ones up front shouted, “Survey Corps, you’re under arrest, all of you stop at once!”  
Jean shouted, “You don’t understand! You have to leave! You’ll all be killed!”  
They narrowed their eyes. “Is that a threat?” Someone demanded.  
Mijore pushed her bangs back and looked around, seeing they were being surrounded on all sides by MPs. Her eyes narrowed. “Fucking pricks. They weren’t supposed to get involved in my play time.”  
Tsuki was trembling. She had to hurry. The portal was beginning to open behind Mijore, out of her line of sight. One of them just needed to push her into the portal. That’s all they had to do.  
Demi saw what Tsuki was working on and she charged at Mijore from the other way. If she dodged, she’d fly right in herself. If not, then Demi would shove her on through, even if she had to die again.  
Mijore glared at the green Slayer and right before she made contact, her lips broke out in a wide grin. “That’s enough of this.” She brought her arms into her chest and tucked herself up for a second, her body starting to glow red. In the next moment, she threw her hands out and a massive wave of power flew out from her body. A bright red light filled their vision and knocked everyone and everything back. The sound of glass breaking filled the air – followed quickly by screams and gargles of pain.  
Then everything was eerily silent.  
Mijore stood on a tiny piece of street below her feet that remained unbroken. All around her had been crumpled by her blast. Buildings were leveled for a mile radius around her. Blood lined the rubble, pieces of bodies were strewn everywhere. Majority of the blood around her came from killing the Slayers over and over, but farther out would have been the MPs, hit by weapons range, and then probably a lot of civilians in the buildings she destroyed. She smirked – it wasn’t as fun doing it like that, but it got the job done.  
Armin slowly lifted his head from where he’d been thrown into a broken piece of building. His eyes opened and he looked around, seeing the complete devestation. His stomach dropped. It was so bad. How had he survived? Did anyone else? He blinked when he realized that he wasn’t sensing Leah anymore. He wanted to shout her name but when he sat up, he saw that Mijore was still standing there. He covered his mouth, hoping she didn’t hear him move.  
The piece of rubble next to him started to move and he jumped until he realized it was Jean getting up. He started to say something to him, but Armin quickly covered his mouth and motioned towards Mijore. His eyes widened. Armin wasn’t totally sure if he was relieved or terrified to see that Jean still had the energy marker over the left side of his face. If he was still with Tsuki… then what happened to his bond with Leah? That also meant Tsuki was alive, too, right? Then…was…Leah? No, he would have felt it if she was killed, right?  
His eyes were shaking. He was so scared. When Connie and Sasha started to get up, he and Jean helped them as well.  
Demi slowly helped Tsuki up from where they’d both been smashed under one of the buildings they’d been knocked into. As soon as they got to their feet, though, Mijore looked over at them and her eyes narrowed. “How the hell did you survive?”  
As though answering the question, a little piece of lavender dissipated into the air. Mijore’s eyes widened and then narrowed. She snarled, “Those _fucking shields_!”  
Mikasa and Levi were both struggling to get up as well, the same lavender objects disappearing in front of them. Levi huffed. “That quick move on Leah’s part saved our lives…” He looked around, sadness filling his gaze. “Can’t say the same for anyone else in this district.”  
Mikasa breathed. “She took the whole thing out in an instant…”  
Part of the ground had given way under a couple other buildings. Leah and Kana lay among the rubble in the large sinkhole. Kana could hear Leah wheezing for breath. The red Slayer whispered, “You… managed to get a shield up in front of everyone before the blast…we’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”  
Leah panted, “I had… to…because… you gotta… get us out… of this.”  
Kana stared up at the smoke filled sky. “Me? You’re still expecting me to fix this?”  
“Yeah…”  
Kana’s body trembled. “You shouldn’t be! I kill everyone. I haven’t protected anyone that I wanted to…! The people I cared about most… I’ve watched die… over and over…and over…”  
“Yeah…? And you’re… still here…” Leah swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “Kana…I’m sorry.”  
Kana rolled over and looked at her friend. “What?”  
“I thought… Mijore was you…when I saw her… before. So when Demi… picked all those fights with you… I didn’t… defend you. But… we’re Trinity+1 right? So… that shouldn’t… have mattered…I should have…believed in my best friend! But now… I know that I was… wrong…and we need you. Hanji said… some real bad stuff happened… while you were in the past…and since then… you’ve been…like a shell. I won’t make light of whatever it was… I can’t imagine what it would take to shake you up…but Kana…” Leah sat up slowly. “You’re the one that came back from Trost… You’re the one that talked Demi into joining our side, you’re the one that helped Tsuki face Reiner and Bertholt when they betrayed us, you taught us that we’re Slayers, you made us what we are. You’ve taken… absolutely everything from nothing. And you come out swinging and you make the impossible possible. This time is no different. I lost faith in you…but I should have known… the best friend that pulled me from the grasp of the female titan…that person…she would never hurt me or anyone she loved. I’m scared for her enemies.”  
Kana’s eyes were wide as she listened to Leah. It was the same thing that Levi had tried telling her before. She wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t without flaws. She was overly emotional, easily triggered, and she was a disaster. But no matter how far down she was beaten… she always got back up. She got to her feet and glared at the top edge of the sinkhole where rubble was still shifting and falling. She drew her last blade. “Leah. Rest until you can walk. Then find the others and get the hell out of here.”  
Leah’s eyes widened. “You’re not going to go back to trying to sacrifice are you?”  
“No.” Kana snarled. She thought about Isabel and Farlan again. The laughs they shared, the memories she was always going to carry with her. They were stained in blood, yes. She had failed to keep her promises, yes. But she had more promises she could still keep and she could not let those people down.  
“Because I won’t die here. You will all leave here alive, I swear it.” She held her hand out.  
Demi and Tsuki straightened up the best they could. Their bodies had regenerated so many times and their weapons were beginning to feel it. Despite being unable to die, they were still reaching the end of their power to keep fighting.  
Mikasa and Levi were in no better shape. They started Mijore from the other side. Levi kept glancing around though, looking for Kana. If Leah had protected all of them, he was certain she’d protected her as well. Were they buried?  
Mijore laughed. “Look at all of you. You’re hanging on by threads. You really think there’s even any point in dragging this out? Just admit defeat.”  
“We go down fighting.” Tsuki stated. “And we fight together. You’re the one that’s going to have to bear with it till the end.”  
Mijore scoffed. “How cliché.” She raised her hand up, a huge long sword forming in it out of her skin. “So be it. If you insist on it, then I’ll grant your – “ Mijore gagged when a sword stabbed into her chest from behind. Kana plowed into her shoulder-first, shoving the blade up through her sternum. Then using her momentum, she pushed her on forward, breaking the blade in half and stabbing the other piece through the back of her head. She put pressure on both blades and kept them and her pinned down. She ordered up at all of them. “Get the hell out of here now! I’ll keep her busy and then find someway to get out.”  
Tsuki snarled, “I already told you that I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for – “  
“I’m not sacrificing myself!” Kana shouted. “I have no intention in dying against this wanna-be copycat!”  
Mijore let out a snarl around the sword in her head and burst her energy out, sending Kana flying. Levi used his gear and swung by the clone and towards Kana as Mijore snarled, “What the fuck did you call me!?”  
Levi caught Kana in the air but Mijore was on them in a second. She gripped Levi’s shirt as her eyes narrowed on Mijore. She screamed, “I will not let anyone else die!” She watched at Mijore got closer and closer, staring her down her right arm, the bracelet rattling as she held her hand out. Trying to summon any power she could. Even if it was her own Slayer power that she had to use. She’d forced it to awaken when saving Farlan. Surely she could do it again.  
A laughter filled her mind.  
_Let’s save brother, together, Kana-san!_  
In the next moment, everything around her was fire.


	124. Final Goodbye

Kana was staring down the black eyes of her own clone as she came at them. She needed something, _anything_ to fight back. She just needed some kind of weapon. Her focus was distracted from Mijore when she noticed that her bracelet was glowing red. Then from it, red lines formed on her skin. It had been so long since she’d seen those. These weren’t the same hard, straight lines as when she was with Mizuki. Instead, these looked more like cracks. They reached up her arm and a voice, a very familiar voice, filled her mind.  
 _Let’s save brother, together, Kana-san!_  
Kana found herself back inside of her soul for a moment, with Isabel looking up at her. Her smile was as bright and glowing as it was the first day they bonded. A couple tears ran down Kana’s face. “What are you doing here?”  
Isabel shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. But I know what we need to do.”  
Kana reached out and cupped Isabel’s cheeks, brushing her thumbs along her cheekbones. “Isabel… will you help me stop her?”  
She nodded her head rapidly. “I want to help you save brother and all of your friends!”  
When Kana returned from her soul, her eyes narrowed. A wall of fire went up between Mijore and here and Levi. It turned until it surrounded them, creating a massive tornado of fire around them as they landed on the ground.  
Levi stared in surprise at the fire, which felt only warm to him. But it also felt familiar. He looked slowly over at Kana who stood, once again, with two wings of fire from her back and a long tail made of the same, equally brilliant flame. He felt like his entire body went numb. The last time he’d seen this was when Isabel and Farlan were still alive. He reached his hand out. “Kana…? Are you?”  
She took his hand and pulled him in, touching her forehead to his. “I don’t know how, Rivi, but Isabel is with me somehow.”  
Levi gritted his teeth and his eyes shut tight as his brows pinched, a tear slid down his cheek as well. There were so many thoughts running through his mind but he didn’t even know where to start. He squeezed her hand and he looked up at her. “Can you fight her now?”  
Kana grinned and jumped back, pointing a thumb at herself. “Leave it to us!”  
Levi felt himself choking with emotion. The mannerism was so Isabel like that it was almost painful. Was this really happening?  
Kana threw her arms out and cut off the tornado, seeing Mijore standing there a few hundred feet away, her eyes narrowed. Mijore demanded, “Where the hell did you get that?”  
Ignoring the question, Kana shot forward and flipped in the air, creating a massive wave of fire that slammed into Mijore and sent her flying away. She didn’t waste a moment and blasted off after Mijore and once she was hovering over her clone, flying away, she blasted fire straight down at her, consuming her entirely.  
Tsuki and the others were staring in shock as the two of them began to fight and the battle was filled with fire. “What is…?”  
Demi straightened up beside Tsuki. “Where did she get her hands on a Pheonix Weapon!?”  
Levi looked at Demi. “What do you know about it?”  
Demi glanced at him and then looked back forward. “It’s a type of weapon that’s element focused rather than energy or creature. I’d heard that… they have a special ability. They can be reborn once by infusing a part of their soul into an object. They were highly saught after for the longest time because it meant that a Slayer and weapon could die twice instead of once. I didn’t know there were even any still around.”  
Levi looked back at the fight in front of them. He remembered the bracelet on Kana’s wrist. The one she’d gotten from Isabel. Was it possible she had done it instinctively? Without realizing what she was doing?  
Every time Mijore was getting back up, Kana would throw another blast of fire at her. The clone was knocked back but her tailed weapons shot up out of the ground and wrapped around Kana, but she spread her fiery wings and burned them to nothing.  
Mijore snarled, “This isn’t supposed to be your weapon!”  
Kana spun and kicked her clone in the head, then slammed her down with her knee into the pavement. She snarled, “She isn’t my weapon, she is my best friend. And she’s returned to help me end you.”  
Mijore laughed. “You can’t kill me – no matter how hard you try.”  
Kana raised her fist, the whole thing engulfed in fire and slammed it down into her clone, the impact put a crater underneath her and the entire thing burst with fire. Kana stood up, floating a few feet off the ground using her wings. “Maybe I can’t kill you, but I’ll make you wish you were dead.” She flew back over to the others. “I can take care of Mijore. All of you get out of here now.”  
Tsuki looked up at her expectantly. “You – “  
“I won’t die.” Kana assured. “I’ll be fine.”  
They looked at each other before nodding their heads.  
Levi pointed his sword away from them. “We’ve lost the horses and any other way of getting out of here quickly. Get passed the destroyed area and search for another way to travel.”  
They all agreed and took off.  
Levi lingered a moment and glared up at Kana. “You’re not allowed to die. Got it?”  
Kana smirked. “Got it, Captain.” She turned and took off back towards Mijore who was reforming from her last hit. As soon as she got herself back together, Kana flew at her again, burning her again.  
Kana hovered, waiting, and every time Mijore came back, she burned her again and again and again.  
 _Kana-san…how long do we have to keep doing this?_  
Kana glanced back a few times, to see that her friends were getting distance. _We just need to keep going until Levi and the others are far away from here. She’s not killable, so we just keep her busy. Then we’re getting out of here._  
Mijore reformed enough and raised her hand. “Stop, _stop, please_!”  
Kana had raised her hand to blast her again, but stopped. “Why the hell should I? I’m starting to get close to kill you the same amount of times that you killed all my friends.”  
“I’m sorry…” Mijore choked. “I’m sorry, okay? What else am I supposed to do with my life? Killing is all I know!”  
Kana clicked her tongue. “What kind of excuse is that?”  
Mijore pushed herself up. “I was killed for the first time when I was 4 minutes old Kana. It’s the first thing I learned. So I imitated it. I didn’t feel anything. Nothing. By the time I finished leveling that village…all I knew was that everyone wanted me dead and that I didn’t have my own identity. You can’t blame me for that!”  
“No. I can’t.” Kana agreed. “But I can blame you for not learning that it’s wrong. You’re still killing.”  
“Because you’re still alive.” Mijore stated, getting to her feet. “I’m done dying here. But I won’t stop killing until I kill you. We can’t both exist here. And I can’t stand that everyone looks at me like… I’m a failed experiment. I’m a failed you. If you didn’t exist then I’d just be me.”  
Kana narrowed her eyes. “You’d still be a murderer and the world would still want you dead. I’m not the one that needs to change.”  
Mijore glared right back at her. “Then if I’m expected to change for the world…I’ll change the world myself.” She reached out suddenly, wrapping her hand around Kana’s throat. Calmly Kana reached up and gripped her wrist, beginning to burn her from the forearm down to her shoulder. Mijore cursed. “This… isn’t over.” She released Kana and stepped back before her weapon form took over and she rushed away like a feral, untamed beast.  
Kana stared after her clone, watching it run away. She lingered there, flecks of fire dancing around her, her crimson hair wavering in the wind. She sighed and without having to turn around, she stated, “You were supposed to go with the others.”  
Levi stepped up behind her, glaring at the back of her head. “I wasn’t going to leave you here without back up.” He glanced passed her, seeing the clone running up the wall in the distance. “Though clearly you didn’t need it.” He lingered and asked. “Kana…Is Isabel…?”  
Kana turned around and looked at her arm, seeing that her bracelet was still glowing. “It’s just a one time thing. It…doesn’t change anything…but…there’s something she wants to say before time’s up.”  
Levi stiffened at this.  
“She wants me to tell you…that she didn’t regret going on that expedition.” Kana’s gaze saddened. “That we shouldn’t regret it either. And that she’s proud of us.”  
Levi stared at her for the longest time before his gaze fell to their feet. “I…see…”  
Kana watched him as well before she realized her bracelet was glowing bright and the light started to lift off of it. As it did, a faded image of Isabel appeared beside them. She had a big grin on her face. She shouted, “I’m really glad I got to see you both one last time! And that I could help!”  
Levi’s eyes trembled. “You saved our lives, Isabel.”  
She jumped and cheered. “I’m so glad! But now you guys gotta work twice as hard, okay?”  
Kana looked down at the simple Chinese beads on her wrist and she told her, “I’m sorry you had to stay with me for so much longer after passing, Isabel. But… I don’t think we would have gotten through this without you. Now, though, you can finally rest.”  
Isabel nodded. “Yeah. I’m gonna go join Farlan now. But I’ll be keeping my eye on you guys! So make sure you protect everyone… and kill all the titans, okay?!”  
“Yeah.” They both said together. When Isabel’s image started to fade away, they both reached out at the same time, but the image vanished. For several moments, they lingered there in silence. Finally, Levi touched her back and whispered, “We should get back. We can’t linger here and you need to rest.”  
Kana scolded him, “You also have wounds that need to be taken care of.”  
“Yeah. Let’s go.” He agreed.

As soon as they got back their new place of refuge – an abandoned barn, Tsuki let out a cry of delight and wrapped her arms around Kana and pulled her in. “You’re okay! What happened!? Tell us!”  
Kana glanced at the others, seeing that they were curious as well, but also shaken after the events. She stated simply, “She ran away.”  
“Then… you overwhelmed her?” Tsuki asked.  
Kana looked away. “Kind…of…?”  
She could see that Tsuki wanted to ask more but before she could, Levi interjected. “That’s enough. It’s been a long, hard day. We all need to get cleaned up and treated. Once we’ve done that, then we can all talk.”

Tsuki was sitting next to Jean, cleaning and helping him treat his wounds. She’d suggested using her powers to help heal everyone, but both Levi and Kana had suggested to reserve what little energy she had left. They had a point. After dying so many times, it felt like her body was jello and she was barely holding on.  
Jean’s other hand came up to hers and clasped gently. “Tsuki, your hands are shaking. You’re really exhausted, I’ll take care of my own injuries.”  
She frowned. “I’m okay…”  
His smile was warm and worried. “No, you’re not. I know that you’re not using Amaak right now, but I feel like I can still sense your thoughts and your feelings. You’re completely wiped and I can’t blame you after everything you went through today. You used your powers so much, and then you still attempted to open a portal to push Mijore through. How you’re even still conscious I have no idea.”  
Tsuki smiled sweetly at him. “I think it’s cause we were bonded. You were supporting me the whole time and it felt much less effortless to use Amaak. I think…if we hadn’t bonded before that fight… I dunno that we would have made it through that fight. There were so many close calls I had, but I could hear your thoughts, as you watched the fight, you could see her making moves I couldn’t and I missed so many close calls.”  
Jean looked down. “I’m sorry I didn’t help. But…I’m only human. I know Mikasa and Levi fought along side of you guys but they’re super strong themselves, too. If I’d tried to go in, I would have messed up.”  
Tsuki shook her head and squeezed his wrist. “I was able to fight with all my strength because I didn’t have to worry if you were safe. Knowing you were okay gave me confidence to fight my hardest.”  
Jean sighed and cupped the back of her head, pulling her forward and kissing her forehead. “Thank you, Tsuki. I’ve gotta be the proudest boyfriend there is. I know I’m the luckiest.”  
Tsuki blushed and giggled. Her gaze drifted across the barn to where Armin was sitting with Leah asleep in his lap. His hand was going through her hair. “The real hero today, though, is Leah. We would all be dead, Slayer, Weapon, and Human alike if it weren’t for her quick action with creating those shields. Who knows how long she’ll be asleep now though. That must have taken so much energy.”  
“Yeah. We owe her big time.” Jean agreed.

Demi sat on top of the barn, glaring out into the forest. She pressed her fingers to her temple. She kept thinking about what Mijore had shown them. She kept remembering her mother. There were so many questions she had now and she wanted answers – but she doubted anyone here had the answers. Her gaze fell to her lap where Sarthis was coiled up in his green snake form. Demi asked, "Are we… back to being on the same page?”  
Sarthis looked up at her. “I made a mistake. I can only identify you Slayers by your energies. The two of them had been exact matches. I apologize.”  
Demi looked up at the moon. “I’m not the one to apologize to. You didn’t stab me.”

Kana and Levi were sitting on barrels just outside the barn. She was focusing on stitching up his arm, but like everyone else, her mind was all over the place. There was so much to think on and to process and to plan. But all she could think about was her clone. Of the memory they shared. Of what happened that brought her into existence.   
Levi sideways glared at her when he noticed she wasn’t paying much attention. “I dunno what I did, but I can tell you’re punishing me for something.”  
Kana blinked when he spoke and a coy smile crossed her lips. “Oh. You know what, I did it out of instinct. Remember after you cut a chunk of my hair off and then afterwards tried ripping the rest out one night? I haven’t forgotten that.”  
“Are you kidding? Who holds a grudge over that?” Levi demanded.  
Kana grinned devilishly. “Quit whining or I’ll make it hurt for real.”  
He stopped complaining at that, but there were a grin on his lips as he stated, “I see that it’s back.”  
“Huh?” Kana asked.  
“That fire in your eyes.” Levi stated. “It’d begun to dull even before you went to the past. I was wondering if your flame had gone out completely. Glad to see it’s not snuffed.”  
Kana looked away a moment, but there was a smile there. “You’re right. I’d lost my way… for a while. To be honest, I didn’t know if I’d pull myself back together or not. But. I’ve decided to stop pitying myself. To stop being a target. I have to be the asset all of you need me to be. That’s where I belong.”  
“I knew you would.” Levi stated. “Put yourself back together, I mean.”  
She smiled back at him. “I know you did. Your blind faith in me is comforting, if not scary.” She placed a piece of guaze over the stitch and started to tape it up. “But… I feel so much better now. Remembering that what I do best is not following orders and doing my own thing.”  
His eyes widened. “Hey wait a minute. That’s not the moral of this story – “  
Kana laughed and nudged him. “Yes it is. We both know it.” She slid off the barrel she was sitting on and perched her hands on her hips. She looked up at the night sky. “Careful, obedient…. Those things aren’t me. I’m an untameable wildfire.”  
Levi watched her for several minutes before his gaze softened and he smirked. “Yes you are.” He jumped off the barrel as well and mussed her hair before pushing her head down. “But don’t think there aren’t going to be consequences. I’m not afraid to make an example out of you every time you disobey, got that? And I will punish you for acting out.”  
There was a grin on Kana’s lips and she slipped her finger through his belt and pulled him in closer to her. Her crimson eyes began to blaze as she told him, “What have I told you about threatening me with a good time?”  
Levi’s own eyes began to blaze. His arm wrapped around her lower back and his other hand slid up to her cheek. They both leaned in at the same time and she pressed her lips deeply to his. Her own hands slid up from his belt and grazed over his bare torso before wrapping around and holding him to her. He continued to kiss her as he walked her slowly back to the wall of the barn. As soon as her back touched the wall, he parted his lips from hers and kissed down her jaw and down her neck. His eyes glazed over. He didn’t need it, but today was another reminder that tomorrow was never garaunteed. Any moment of any day, they could lose everything. But they couldn’t dwell on that. They had to fight as hard as they could go live as long as they could.  
Kana tipped her head up and breathlessly whispered, “Rivi-kun…” Her arms wrapped tighter around his torso and his leg threaded up between hers. Her eyes were glassy as he pulled back, his forehead resting against hers. His silver blue eyes were blazing and it captivated her. Kana slid her hand up to his cheek and finished, “I want you so bad…”  
He leaned back into her, kissing her deeply, responding to her words by pressing himself into her. It made her feel dizzy to feel every inch of him all over her again. When she felt his warm tongue graze her lip, she eagerly parted her lips before feeling him slip inside of her. Both of their arms tightened around each other, holding themselves closer, but he lifted her up the wall and set her on the barrels they had just been sitting on a moment before. He pulled back, his hand sliding down along her thigh. He panted softly and told her, “I can’t tell you how badly I want you, too, Kana. But I’m not about to take you out here in this filthy barn.”  
Kana giggled for a moment before laughing out loud. “Somethings never change, Rivi.”  
He smirked again before he leaned back in, kissing her again and again, unbuttoning the top few buttons of her top. His gaze smoldered as he added, “But I’m not ready to go back in yet.”  
Kana closed her eyes and tipped her head, sliding her hand up into his hair as he kissed down her sternum. “Good… me either…”


	125. Campfire

Kana straightened up her shirt and Levi tucked his own back in as the two of them made their way back into the stable. Tsuki looked over at them and smiled, “Get all patched up?”  
Kana nodded, “Yeah.” She glanced over when Demi came in and tipped her head to Mikasa. Demi stated, “Your turn for watch, Mikasa.”  
The other Ackerman nodded her head and headed out. At the same time, Kana walked over to Armin and Leah and knelt down. She asked, “How is she?”  
Armin frowned, “I think she’s fine. Just exhausted.” He looked up. “We all are.”  
Jean and Tsuki worked on building a campfire and within an hour, they were all sitting around it, eating just enough to get them through. Everyone was quiet for a while, but none more so than Jean. His gaze was on his mug the entire time, only looking up every now and then when Tsuki sought his attention for one reason or another.  
Levi asked, “What’s wrong, Jean? This filthy stable make you lose your appetite?”  
Jean shook his head. “No. It… isn’t this stable.” Jean confessed. “It’s…just… I’m thinking about everything that happened today. I thought… for sure… that we were all dead.” He went quiet for several moments. He finally looked back up. “Before today… I was convinced that your methods were wrong. But I just wanted to think that. I didn’t want to hurt others. But you weren’t wrong. I was. Any moment of hesitation could have gotten all of us killed. I promise from now on… I won’t hesitate.”  
Tsuki touched his arm. “Jean…”  
Levi corrected him, “I never said if what we’re doing is right or wrong. I can’t justify that. I don’t know if this path is what’s right. But I know that right now it’s our best chance at saving humanity.”  
Kana glanced at him before adding, “Today was also an atypical situation. I don’t think there will be another enemy like her.”  
They all went quiet. Tsuki sipped at her drink and stated, “So I guess that’s a great transition into the questions everyone wants to ask.”  
Kana cleared her throat. “Yeah I uh…have no idea. I don’t know more than you guys do. As Mijore stated all of us had our memory wiped. I didn’t know anything of any of it.”  
“So… you don’t remember why they were cloning you?” Tsuki asked.  
Kana shrugged and coyly commented, “Maybe I was just an unlucky pick of the lot. I mean…Taina said that she even experimented on her own daughter, too.” She looked over at Demi.  
Demi looked down. “Yeah. There’s… so much I’m trying to decipher from that.” She looked at Kana. “Did you noticed my mom was the one commanding Sarthis?”  
Kana nodded, “I did. It got me thinking… we know that Slayers can only use one weapon. But can weapons only have one Slayer?”  
“We don’t even know the one Slayer one Weapon thing is true any more.” Tsuki argued. “Cause of you.”  
Kana clicked her tongue. “Yeah… I thought about that, too. I dunno… I’m just at a loss of everything now.”  
Demi commented, “We could certainly use Meria’s help again.”  
Kana hummed angrily at the green Slayer. “We don’t need that woman around. Don’t bring her up – “ Kana made a noise when Levi smacked the back of her head.  
“She knows more than any of you do without your memories. Regardless of your history, her knowledge is needed more now than ever.” Levi scolded.  
Kana groaned and tipped her head up. “Anyone but herrr….” She looked away and then growled. “But it’s not like we even know where she took off anyway.”   
Armin asked slowly, “How… long till she comes back? Do you think?”  
Kana blinked slowly and looked down at her boots. “I have no idea. To be honest… I was surprised that she left at all. Surely she knew that it was a one time weapon.”  
Armin asked, “Your new weapon was a single use?”  
“No.” Kana clarified. She glanced at Levi who was focusing on his mug. She looked at the others. “As I told Tsuki a minute ago, I don’t know how I was able to do it. But, in the past, I made a friend who was a weapon and bonded with her. She died… but somehow – “  
Demi joined, “She was a Pheonix weapon. Pheonixes, I thought, had been extinct for a long time. They were incredibly powerful weapons. Slayers would search for them and claim them. Because when they died, they could bind with another item and a Slayer would get one last chance at life. Going off the assumption that Slayers are _supposed_ to only be able to use one weapon, this was a security for them. Once a weapon is dead, that’s it. A Slayer was mortal.”  
Kana looked at the bracelet on her wrist. “She didn’t know anything about her status as a Weapon so I don’t think she did it intentionally… but she bound herself to this bracelet. She’s gone now though. She can finally rest.”  
Tsuki frowned. “So you’re back to mortal again, right?”  
“For now, yeah.” Kana stated. “But it seems it’s safe to assume that I can find another weapon and use it now. Just need to find one.”  
Demi bit her thumbnail. “Maybe. Is there any chance that it’s because of the time change?”  
Kana blinked in confusion. “Huh?”  
Demi held her hand out. “You went back in time to _before_ you were bonded with Mizuki. If that’s the case…do you think you could bond because you hadn’t bonded with another weapon yet at that time?”  
Armin also asked, “Or…is there a chance that Mizuki wasn’t actually a weapon you bonded with?”  
They all looked at Armin in confusion. Armin explained, “Mijore’s history lesson showed us that Mizuki was actually another of your clones. What if you could use her as a weapon without bonding because both of you were the same? Which allowed you to bond with a weapon for the _first_ time in the past?”  
Kana whistled. “That’s a hell of a theory. But I just don’t know. Won’t know until I find another weapon and try.”   
Demi nodded. “But before that, we need to finish what we’ve started. We have to get back Eren and Historia.”  
“You’re right.” Levi agreed. “One daunting task at a time.”

Kana was setting up her bedspread for the evening when she heard her name. She turned and looked at Demi who was walking up to her. Sarthis was wrapped around her neck and shoulders like a scarf. Levi was close to them, having just set up his bed for the evening on the hay – so he wouldn’t be on the filthy ground. He looked up as Kana turned to the other Slayer and asked, “What’s up?”  
Demi stated simply, “Sarthis has something to say.”  
The weapon raised his head and looked at Kana. “I wanted to confess my apologies. I had been given orders from Taina to kill Mijore before I was given to Demi. Even back then, I couldn’t tell the difference between you, Mizuki, and Mijore. Your energy signatures were all the same to me. I had begun to speculate that Demi had forgotten the mission, so I began to act without orders. Your injuries back then and the haste with which Mizuki deteriorated were both probably my fault.”  
Kana sighed and offered them a smile. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m not looking to point blame at anyone.”  
Demi blinked, surprised by Kana’s reaction.  
“I thought you were all insane until I saw Mijore for myself. I wouldn’t expect that most people would notice by sight alone that she and I weren’t the same. Though I hope no one seems similarities after getting to know her today.” Kana laughed humorlessly before dropping down on her bag. “I don’t hold any grudges. So don’t worry about it.”  
Demi glanced at Sarthis and then looked back forward. “There’s more.”  
Sarthis uncoiled and lowered himself to the ground before explaining, “If you hadn’t noticed, Demi’s knowledge level is different from that of yours or the others when it comes to Slayer information. That’s because she didn’t lose her memory the same way the rest of you had. It’s also why she was at Castle Utgard living alone unlike the others.”  
Kana blinked in surprise.  
Demi finished, “According to Sarthis Mijore actually captured me from Meria before she brought the rest of you inside. So instead of getting placed with a family to care for me, Mijore must have done something and wiped less of my memory before she ditched me there. Chronological events of my past I don’t remember but knowledge I do. I’m scared that she might have done something to me that she might take advantage of.”  
Kana looked at the green Weapon. “Why did you keep this a secret?”  
Sarthis confessed, “I was confused. When Demi first met you, I assumed she was working with you for some reason, to gain some sort of trust – assuming that you were Mijore. When I realized that she had in fact forgotten everything and was struggling with herself to trust you, that was when I decided to act. But… at the time…I didn’t trust Demi. Because I didn’t understand. I’m sorry. I’m certain it feels like I’ve betrayed all of you but – “  
“None of it matters.” Levi cut in. They looked at him as he continued, “The truth was, Mijore was a missing piece for all of us to figure out. There were facts that didn’t add up because we didn’t know who this ghost was. No one can be held accountable for conclusions they came to without the knowledge of this clone. We know now and answers are coming to light. As long as you bear no secrets from this point on, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”  
Sarthis dipped his head. “Thank you.”  
Kana looked up at Demi. “Same goes for you. We know what was going on now. No one is to blame for any of this. Or for anything none of us knew.”  
Demi sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Man. I was expecting to have to make some big speech and whatnot but you two are just too easy.”  
They both smirked.  
She fanned her hands and turned around. “Whatever. Come on Sarthis. Let’s rest so I can throw a fit about getting Eren back in the morning.”  
Kana rolled her eyes but smiled as she flopped back on her spread. She had to admit she felt a lot of weight of her chest. It was her own fault that she’d been so depressed and worked up, but after that battle, she felt like she was clear headed again. She raised her hand up and looked at the ring on her finger. Her gaze softened.  
They all lived to fight another day.

The next morning Kana was out behind the barn with Tsuki getting washed up and changed. They had just finished redressing when Sasha rushed up to them. “Heads up. There’s some people out in the forest. They’re coming this way.”  
Tsuki narrowed her eyes and turned to Kana. “Lay a trap?”  
Kana cracked her knuckles. “Oh yeah.”

Tsuki knelt down by a small stream. She had a couple buckets with her and was scooping up some water for them to use. Her eyes narrowed. She could hear their persuers coming from a mile away. They were noisy ametures. But that just made their job all the easier.  
They finally stepped up behind her, both of them pointing their guns. The male with the bowl cut ordered, “Don’t move.” When Tsuki stopped, he ordered, “Put both hands up. Stand. Turn around slowly.” Tsuki followed each order as he gave it. When she turned around, she could see clearly that the two of them were MPs. Great. They’re unlucky and will probably have to be killed for them to stay hidden.  
He ordered, “You’re Survey Corps? Stay silent, good. Do what I say and it’ll all be – “  
In the very same moment, Kana and Levi dropped down from the trees and held their swords to their necks, keeping them still. The two MPs immediately raised their guns in defeat.  
Levi ordered. “Good. Nice and slow. Give your guns to Tsuki.”  
Once Tsuki had both weapons, she giggled, “Now you two don’t make a sound.” She winked playfully.

“Leave your uniforms and all your gear behind. Your boots, too. Don’t worry, we have shoes for you.” Levi ordered. Mikasa and Armin were sticking close to the two MPs, making sure they didn’t do anything funny.  
Kana trotted up next to Levi. “So, what’s the plan, Captain?”  
Levi was looking at the wallets they had pulled from their uniforms. “I can really only think of one option we have left. Infiltrate the Military Police Brigade and find out where they took Eren. We’re pressed on time and we need to force them into a showdown.”  
Demi swung down upside down from a branch next to both of them. “I can infiltrate.”  
Levi glanced at her. “It’s a thought. But we can’t rule out that Mijore won’t still be there. I’m not ready to run the risk of sending anyone in alone.”  
Demi grumbled, “I’ll just sneak in real quick, grab him, and leave.”  
“We need to know where he is first.” Levi scolded. He turned away from her and looked at their two prisoners, reading from the wallets. “Private Marlow Sand. Military Police Brigade, Stohess District. Hitch Dreyse. Same Assignment, Military Police. Both recruits from the 104th, only been assigned to Stohess. Looks like the Military Police tradition of leaving all the work to the recruits is alive and healthy.” He sighed and looked at the clothes that were removed from the other two soldiers and then glanced back at Demi. “Alright, you win. You and Tsuki will infiltrate.”  
Demi cheered and flipped down to the ground, already scooping up the clothes.  
Levi asked, “That bond thing works at any distance right?”  
Demi paused and nodded. “Yes, it should. That’s something I didn’t know a lot about. I only learned with you guys.”  
Kana looked away. “I doubt mom would waste time teaching everyone if it was a fickle thing that space could deplete.”  
Levi nodded and looked at Tsuki and Jean. “Then the two of you will be able to communicate, right? Should something go wrong, Jean can tell us from the outside.”  
They both nodded.  
Once Tsuki and Demi were changed, Levi continued his orders, “Alright, the interior brigade should still be on the scene in Stohess District. We left quite the mess for them to clean up. Capture anyone you think might be an interior MP and gather clues.”  
Both of them saluted.  
He continued, “When the search effort spreads the MPs too thin, we make our move. Both of you should remain ready to evacuate at any moment. Remember that survival is always of the upmost importance.” When they nodded again, he turned to the two MPs. “Now then… Marlowe. Hitch. As for you…”  
Everyone straightened up, waiting to see what the Captain would determine as their punishment.


	126. Military Police Compound

As the silence lingered, Hitch suddenly exclaimed, “Do you know that it’s your fault that over a hundred Stohess district citizens are now dead?”  
“Huh?” Levi demanded shortly.  
She continued, “You people probably think you’re heroes or something… but got all those people killed and ruined their families lives!”  
“Yes. I know.” Levi stated.  
Hitch looked around at the others. “You’re all from the southern training corps, aren’t you? Just like Annie Leonhart. Were you friends with her?” She paused. “No. I bet she didn’t have any friends. Right? She was always dark and antisocial. She was like a child afraid to interact with others. Even I didn’t really get to know her, but now… now I’ll never get the chance!” She turned and screamed at Levi. “They didn’t even find her body! Probably because those titans ripped it apart!”  
Levi didn’t flinch. “No. It’s because Annie Leonhart was the titan in hiding. She’s being held right now. I doubt they want fresh recruits to know that, though.” Both of the MPs stared in horror at him and he turned away. “Makes me sick. We’re all in the dark when it comes to how this world works. Other than the ones in the very center of course. We’ll keep you tied up until we’re ready to leave here. But I promise we’ll release you then. There’s no way you’d be able to catch up to us, after all.”  
Marlowe shuddered before turning his head. “Captain Levi. I don’t think what you’re doing is wrong. But did the Survey Corps really murder Reeves company workers – regular citizens?”  
Levi answered, “The boss was killed by the interior MPs. But whoever wins here will decide what the history books say.”  
Marlowe shouted, “Let me help you! I will do anything it takes to right the wrongs of this world! If you want to find the interior brigade, let me do it. I’ll be far more effective than your disguised soldiers!”  
Levi gave him a look. “The hell’s with you?”  
Jean glared at the guy when he couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. The guy was noble…stubborn… a block head.  
Tsuki glanced at Jean when she could sense his emotions whirling around and she found herself suddenly thinking about Marco. Her gaze softened as she looked at Marlowe. Yeah, she could see the similarities, too.  
Levi turned away. “No. I can’t know whether you’re truly prepared to make the system your enemy. Even if that’s how you really feel now, you might wake up tomorrow and not remember a thing.  
Marlowe hesitated. “That…”  
Levi started off. “Sasha, tie them up.”  
“Yessir.” She answered, starting forward.  
Tsuki kept looking at Jean, sensing how conflicted he was feeling. He then suddenly asked, “Captain! Let me handle them!”  
Levi looked back at him, reading his expression before sighing and turning away. “Take care of it.”  
Tsuki hesitated. “Jean…?”  
Jean gave her a thumbs up. “I got this. I’ll take care of this.”  
Tsuki nodded. She could tell he had a plan. She trusted him. “I’ll come with you, just in case.”  
Jean sighed. “Alright fine.” He and Tsuki walked between some of the trees, to the other side of the stream.  
Kana smirked at Levi and he glared at her. “What?”  
“You big softy.” Kana teased.  
He glared back. “You’re treading into dangerous territory now that you’re back to your normal self. Keep it up and I’ll keep my promise of making an example out of you.”  
Kana smirked. “I’m so scared.”  
Demi grumbled, “Would you two get a room with your weird ass flirting?”  
Kana crossed her arms. “Aw… does someone miss Eren?”  
Demi growled and shouted at her, “Go back to being a depressed asshole, would you!?” But her cheeks were pink.

Jean held his knife out at the two MPs as he and Tsuki followed. “Keep walking straight.” He ordered before pointing to the weapon in his hand. “Just try it. One wrong move… and this knife goes in your gut.”  
Marlowe turned back forward. “That won’t happen. I want to help the Survey Corps.”  
Jean glared at him. “Hah. You just want to trick us and sell us out to make a name for yourselves. You can’t fool me.”  
Tsuki blinked as she looked at Jean. The feelings she was getting from him were in direct contradiction to what he was saying. She almost opened her mouth to question him but she stopped. Was this part of his plan?”  
They finally came up to a steep rock wall and Jean ordered, “Okay. Right here.”  
Marlowe nodded his head. “We’ll stay quiet about all this.”  
Jean nodded. “That’s right. You will. Because…” He raised the knife up suddenly. “You’re gonna die here!”  
Tsuki gasped, “Jean!” She was genuinely surprised by this – that he was now instigating an assault without orders after having fought so hard against taking lives. Again – it had to be a plan. But what was his plan?  
Marlowe and Hitch jumped back in fear. He shouted, “That’s not what the Captain said!”  
Jean grinned darkly. “The Captain might have agreed to let you go… but I’m not as compassionate and forgiving. It’s too dangerous, so I’ve decided it’s better to kill you.”  
Marlow desperately insisted, “You have to believe us! We know you’re fighting to save humanity!”  
“Oh?” Jean snarled. “You think I can trust you two? Especially you, bowl-cut. I just can’t muster up any sympathy for someone who’d get that haircut!” He charged forward.  
When he did, he stumbled over his own foot and the knife went flying out of his hand and rattled to Marlowe’s feet. Tsuki’s eyes widened and she held her hands out, prepared to summon Amaak.  
Marlowe dropped to his knees and grabbed the blade before ordering, “Hitch! Run!” As the girl took off, Jean jumped back up, having picked up a stick and pressed it to Marlowe’s chin. He held the knife up over his head.  
Jean barked, “My gun can probably shoot first. Or, do you want to find out the hard way? Your knife? My gun? Which one’s faster!”  
Tsuki kept herself ready. She could see what his plan was now. He was putting his faith in these strangers. But if he was wrong, he could get hurt – so she would make sure that didn’t happen.  
Jean pushed him back. “You’re dead unless you act! Are you just waiting until I fire?”  
Marlowe tipped his head and insisted, “Wait! I swear I’m on your side! There’s no need for us to fight!”  
Jean got in his face. “Then give me the knife. You trust me, right? If you truly do, then put your life in my hands. If you can do that… I’ll believe you. You claim you’re willing to leave everything behind and join us, and make the rest of the world your enemy. But how am I supposed to believe that? We’re in a desperate position. What makes you believe we can save humanity?”  
Marlowe started to relax a bit. “Then why… are _you_ still in the Survey Corps? I joined the rotten MPs to clean the brigade up, but… I made the wrong choice. As long as the Survey Corps keeps fighting with their lives at stake…” He dropped the knife. “I’ll trust you.”  
Jean sighed and started to back up when Hitch came flying back at them. Tsuki lunged and wrapped her arms around her, keeping her back away from Jean. “Stop!” She ordered.  
Marlowe explained, “Hitch, no! He was testing me!” When Hitch relaxed, he looked at Jean and stated, “Hey… if I hadn’t believed you… I would’ve swung that knife, you know? I don’t know your little girlfriend would have been fast enough.”  
Tsuki glared at him a bit but Marlowe kept talking, “Why did you go so far?”  
Jean smirked. “Because you kind of remind me… of a certain guy. Stubborn and full of hope and passion for a good world. He was noble to the core…” He perched his hands on his hips. “You proved your commitment. It should be enough to convince Captain Levi, too. So lend us your strength.”

Demi walked over to the stream while everyone else was waiting on Jean and Tsuki to return with good news. She had noticed the red Slayer had left the bulk of the group a bit ago and she probably would have normally assumed it was to take a leak, but she hadn’t looked great when she left. She stopped when she Kana lean her head back up out of the water and sigh, wiping her mouth.  
Narrowing her eyes, Demi demanded, “Did you just get sick?”  
Kana jumped and looked back at her. “What the… stalker!”  
The green Slayer’s brow twitched. “I am not stalking! You were making weird faces!” She crossed her arms and tipped her head. “Think it’s an affect of using multiple weapons?”  
Kana shrugged. “Probably. And then using all that energy at once.”  
Demi frowned. “Or… is it cause you killed yourself? Over and over?”  
Kana sighed and stood back up. “Yeah… that part of the job didn’t make me feel good.”

They were all nestled down in tall grass, looking out towards a large castle like structure. Levi came back and confirmed, “I’m sure of it. That’s the interior brigade compound.”  
Jean smirked. “Wow. Nice. That was fast.”  
Levi nodded. “It’s thanks to those two MPs, and you, Jean. Good work.” He turned back. “Let’s go. It’s time we strike first.”  
It didn’t take long for them to put a dent in the forces of the compound. Each of them worked fast and efficient and sliced legs to prevent from killing anyone unnecessarily.  
Jean dropped down, kicking a couple guys in the heads and knocking them out  
Tsuki and Demi slashed forward, cutting the back of shins to drop some other soldiers.  
They made their way through the entire compound, but they didn’t find what they were looking for. No sign of Eren, Historia, or anyone they needed to find.  
After knocking down the last of them, Levi picked up one of the soldiers by the hair and ordered the others. “Come on. They’re not here, let’s retreat.”

They made their way back and everyone hopped back out of the wagon except Armin who kept looking at Leah who was still sleeping. Tsuki gave him a warm look and assured, “Don’t look so forlorn. She’ll wake up soon.”  
Levi kicked their hostage into a tree and then knelt down in front of him. He scowled, “Nice mustache you have there. Where are Eren and Historia?”  
The man glared at him with hatred. “Did you kill all of my men?”  
Levi shrugged. “Unfortunately for you, they won’t be coming to your rescue. Killing them would have been a bother so they’ll just be off their feet for a while.”  
Tsuki commented, “It was a good chunk of the internal MPs. They’ll be out of commission for a bit.”  
Jean was shaking a bit so she put her hands on his and squeezed. “You did well, Jean.”  
He gave her a warm look. “Thanks…”  
The hostage scoffed, “Don’t you sound brave? You think you’re something special? You think you’re something special? You think cutting down a bunch of unarmed MPs makes you a hero? I think you should know…some of the men and women in there were just servants. But you cut them all down without mercy or remorse.”  
Levi glared at him. “I see… what a horrible thing we’ve done…” He kicked the guy in the mouth, digging the toe of his boot into his teeth. “I feel awful for all of you, too. And I feel especially bad about your mouth. I’d suggest using it while you’re still able to speak. Where are Eren and Historia?”  
Levi pulled his shoe out and the guy started coughing and gagging on his blood and missing teeth. “It’s useless! No matter what you try to do… the only option the Survey Corps has left is to stay on the run inside the walls! You’re nothing more than a pack of filthy rats now! You’ll be lucky just to survive! You’ve even abandoned your comrades! If you don’t surrender, the captured soldiers are going to hang! Why shouldn’t they? Considering what you’ve done, who’s going to object? And the one on the gallows first’ll be tehe man responsible for all this…your leader, Erwin Smith! Of course…if you admit to acting on your own and give yourselves up… the lives of your innocent comrades could be spared at least.” He stood up. “Understand, Levi? That’s the only option you have left.” He put his hands on Levi’s shoulders. “use your lives to save theirs. That’s it. I’ll speak on your behalf. It’ll go better that way.”  
Levi bluntly retorted. “I’ll pass. Just tell me where Eren and Historia are.”  
The man snarled, “You’re going to just let your comrades be killed to live a few days longer? You’re monsters…”  
Levi barked, “Some Survey Corps lives are worth more than others. Only those dumb enough to agree to that join us.” Levi yanked him forward and turned him around, pushing his arm up his back. “Anyway, I doubt the crown would spare the others and throw away this perfect opportunity to exterminate the Survey Corps.” He yanked his arm to the side and the guy started screaming in pain and dropped down to his knees. “Shut up.” Levi growled. “Tell me where Eren and Historia are.”  
The guy cowered and whimpered, shaking his head back and forth. Kana looked up and sighed. The guy was getting annoying. Her eyes narrowed and when Levi went to kick him again, she grabbed his shoulder. “I have an idea. Let’s try something different.”  
Levi looked at her curiously but stepped back.  
Kana knelt down and crossed her arms over her knees. “Hey there. Do you know who I am?”  
It took a moment before his eyes widened and he let out a horrifying yelp. “M-Mijore?”  
A dark look crossed Kana’s face. “Oh, so my reputation preceeds me?”  
“Of course… everyone in the MPs knows about you, you crimson haired bloodthirsty monster.” He glanced at the others. “Wh-why are you helping them? Did you change sides?”  
Kana licked her lips. “That’s right. I found that I really liked the taste of MP blood over Survey Corps and it’s been a couple days.” Her grin spread wider. “So what do you say? I won’t be nearly as nice as the Captain here.”  
He screamed, “I don’t know! They barely tell us anything! Kenny Ackerman is extremely tight lipped!”  
“Ackerman?” Levi repeated. “That’s the bastards last name?”  
Mikasa was staring in shock.  
Kana stood back up. “Oh yeah. I remember him saying that. He said it was yours too.”  
Levi blinked. “What?”  
“Yeah I was surprised. I’d never heard you say it so I didn’t know if you knew.” Kana stated.  
Levi grumbled, “I supposed he doesn’t give out many details. Especially important ones.” He paused and then glared at Kana and kicked her back. “Hey, you’re not done yet, slacker.”  
“Oh yeah.” Kana knelt back down. “So… what should we do to you first, to get you to talk?”  
“Please don’t.” He whimpered. “I honestly don’t know anything!”  
Kana started to open her mouth again when Sasha shouted, “A group of people are coming! From that direction!” She pointed her bow and arrow past the trees.”  
All of them dropped down into the grass and looked out, trying to get a visual on their enemy. As they got closer though, Demi sat up. “That’s not an enemy.”


	127. Reckless

As Demi stood up, the others followed suit and looked at the grass to see Hanji, Marlowe, and Hitch walk up to them. Hanji had a big smile on her face as she explained the events of the last 48 hours inside of the walls. She recounted how she had tracked down Dimo Reeves’ son, Flegel and they had used him to trick the MPs into confessing their crimes in front of the entire Trost district. The Newpaper crew had also been there and agreed to write down every real word, instead of the fake words the MPs normally forced them into. She also told them that during Erwin’s hearing, Pixis and staged a fake wall breach emergency to show that the nobles were in for their own selfish gain – above that of humanity. This held them to the very law they were about to punish Erwin for.  
“…which means…” Hanji carried on, “The false charged against the Survey Corps are gone. You acted in legitimate self-defense. The Royal Capital and the administrative district are provisions under Commander-in-chief Zackly’s control. The nobles haven’t counter-attacked. We’re free now.”  
The entire squad all started jumping around and cheering.  
Levi was still reading the paper. “How in the world…? What did you do to them?”  
Hanji answered, “We didn’t do anything. It was everyone’s individual choices that brought change to our world.”  
Levi sighed and lowered the paper. “I see. Meanwhile my choices just wound up getting your squad killed. Sorry about that.”  
Hanji gave him a sympathetic look. “Well at least you neutralized those gun-toting bastards, right?” She paused and glanced at Kana. “As well as… I heard about the real run in that caused so much distruction. An actual clone, huh?”  
Kana nodded. “Surprise.”  
Levi narrowed his eyes. “We haven’t stopped them. Mijore and Kenny both managed to get away, which means the chance of running into them again is high. At least I know for sure we’ll see Kenny again. There’s no telling where Mijore ran off to. Kenny will be with Eren and Historia. If we don’t find them soon, the revolution will be derailed.”  
“Or. I’ll lose my damn mind.” Demi barked.  
Hanji’s face grew serious. “Well. Just might have good news. I think I may know where Eren and Historia are. I’m not absolutely certain… but I think our only choice is to take our chances with this.”

Demi shouted, “Eren is going to be _eaten_?”  
Hanji held her hands up. “It’s only speculation based on Reiner and Bertolt’s words and actions, but it maybe be a way for someone go gain Eren’s titan power.”  
They were all lowed up with most of them on horses while a few were riding in a wagon to their next destination.   
Tsuki rode next to Kana and commented, “You okay? You don’t look so good.”  
“I’m fine.” Kana stated with a smirk. “Just wishing we could get a damn nap in.”  
Hanji continued, “This is the Survey report Erwin commissioned of the Reiss estate. If Eren and Historia have fallen into the hands of the Reiss family, as our mission outline supposes, then we can assume that they’ll be taken to the estate. Survey Corps members disguised as farmers have been conducting a covert survey of the grounds. Most of their report concerns the details of an incident involving the Reiss family five years ago. The Reiss family was blessed with five children. But the Lord had yet another child, an illegitimate daughter, with a servant. Of course, that isn’t a very unusual story. And on the estate, the lord enjoyed an otherwise good reputation. In particular, his eldest daughter Frieda was loved by all for her guileless character. She was even known to stroll through the fields to thank the farmers for their work. Everyone living on the grounds considered her the estate’s pride and joy. But…tragedy struck the night wall Maria fell. Marauding bandits who had taken advantage of the chaos raided the one chapel in the village and sit it on fire. It was destroyed. No one in the village saw the men enter. And to make matters worse, that night, the entire Reiss family had gathered in the chapel to pray together after the breach in the wall. The bandits massacred every member of the family except for the lord, Rod Reiss. This all took place just days before Historia’s mother was killed by the military police from the interior. Right after losing his family, Rod Reiss began planning to make contact with Historia. That must have something to do with why they wanted her.”  
“Blood ties.” Levi commented. “Something special about that blood line?”  
“Where are they?” Demi demanded. “Great story and all but I don’t care about anything except where Eren is.”  
Hanji hushed her. “I’m getting there!” She carried on. “What caught my attention is the fact that the chapel was destroyed. It was a studry building made out of stone, not wood. Even stone buildings weaken after a fire, but that would mean that these bandits just happened to be carrying siege weapons around. Why would common robbers need to destroy a building? Bandits would just take what they wanted and leave quickly. And the only person who saw what happened, was Rod Reiss. The same Rod Reiss immediately rebuilt the chapel using his own assets. Why do that? It’s even stranger when you consider that there were no titans there. I may be jumping to conclusions but any place that suspicious would be worth checking out.”  
Levi looked forward. “Fine. We’re heading to that chapel.”  
Demi threw her fist forward. “And we’ll finally get Eren back!”  
Hanji added, “Soldiers will probably be sent to the Reiss family estate by dawn. I doubt he’ll stick around that long. We need to hurry. Eren could be eaten.”  
Demi snarled, “No way in hell.”

Once they reached the village, they came to a stop so Marlowe and Hitch could get directions to the chapels exact location. As the horses ate, Levi dropped down on the edge of the wagon. “Alright. It’s time to discuss plans. We need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. We know that Mijore and Kenny were working together before. So the chances of both of them being there again are high. It’s clear to us that Mijore can’t be killed, so we won’t even attempt to go down that route. But we’ll dependent on the Slayers keeping her preoccupied while we rescue Eren and Historia.”  
Demi leaned forward. “How about…two slayers and I help rescue Eren.”  
Armin glared at her. “Leah still hasn’t woken up from the last fight.”  
Demi sighed. “Fine.”  
“That aside, Kenny is the next issue. The Slayers will need to focus on Mijore so I’ll take care of Kenny. The rest of you avoid contact with the both of him. Fighting him would be like fighting me. Well, no. With those weapons, he’s probably harder to deal with.”  
Sasha groaned, “So there’s two people we can’t possibly beat…”  
Connie asked, “What if we waited for the military to arrive?”  
Demi glared at him. “Did you not hear what they said? Eren is going to get _eaten_. We can’t wait any longer.”  
Armin chimed in. “Though we do have the luxury knowing that Kenny isn’t invincible like Mijore was.”  
“Oh yeah.” Jean coyly responded, “That’s a relief.”  
Hanji nodded, “No matter how well trained he is, if yesterday was his first taste of real battle with that new gear, we have an edge.” She turned to Levi, “But how is it you don’t know more about Kenny? Didn’t you live with him?”  
Levi sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t even know his last name until yesterday. I guess it’s Ackerman. A name we all share.” He glanced at Mikasa. “Did you have any idea?”  
Mikasa shook her head. “When my parents were still alive, they told me that my fathers family, the Ackermans, were persecuted inside the cities. My mother’s family lost their home, too, possibly because they were Asian. When my parents met, they’d both been driven deep into the moutains near the walls. But my father never knew why the Ackerman family was persecuted. He didn’t seem to be of a different race like my mother.”  
Levi looked down for a moment and Kana could almost see the wheels turning. He looked back up at her. “Mikasa, did you ever experience a moment in your life when it felt as though a power suddenly awoke inside of you?”   
Mikasa’s eyes widened. “Yeah. I did.”  
Levi added, “Kenny told me he had a moment like that, too. One day, all at once, he felt a stupid amount of strength surge through his body and he knew exactly what to do. I had a moment like that, too.”  
Kana blinked and her eyes widened a bit, remembering when Isabel and Farlan had died and he had gone ballistic and taken out an entire herd of titans in moments. Did that have anything to do with his family name?

They finally reached the chapel. Hanji and Levi were at the front and had pushed a rug to the side. “Just as I thought.” Hanji stated. “A secret door. Eren and our enemies will probably be on the other side. I just hope the layout is close to what I predicted.”  
“And the detour for those presents pays off.” Levi added.  
Armin was finishing up tying a knot and stated. “Preparations are complete!”  
Levi looked back at him and then at the others. “Alright, is everyone ready to get your hands dirty?” Though no one answered, they were all quiet and tense. “Looks like you are.” He mumbled. He paused when he realized they were one short a person. His eyes narrowed. Where had Kana taken off to?  
Demi looked over when Kana snuck back in a moment later. She glared at her friend. “There you are. Where did you – did you – ?”  
Kana made a face and looked away. “Maybe…”  
She hissed at her friend. “Did you get yourself some sort of disease? Is that what happened?”  
“No I am not diseased!”  
Demi sighed and looked away. “Okay whatever you say. But we’re getting ready to start. So be prepared.”

The secret door had a ladder that went down into a small room and they stacked up their new weapons. Kana smirked. She had to admit the plan that Armin, Hanji, and Levi had put together was pretty sound and definitely played to the advantages of their gear over the MPs. With everyone taking one last deep breath, Levi kicked the door open and the rest of them started rolling the barrels through. They immediately started rolling down a long, half curved stairway to the bottom.  
The gas cannisters they attached to them started to go off.  
The whole squad burst through the door. Sasha, however, dropped down and with fire at the tip of her arrow, shot it down to the first barrel, causing it to explode and start spilling smoke everywhere.  
Tsuki jumped up and Amaak surrounded her with his white metal scales and formed her wings. She shot through the top of the cavern and looked around, getting a quick count of the number of enemies.  
Jean looked up at the others. He shouted, “35 enemies! Let’s go!”  
All of them took off.  
Levi and Mikasa were leading the charge while Sasha, Armin, Connie and Jean were firing extra flares to keep their companions covered. In the billowing smoke, the enemy wouldn’t be able to take aim at them. This gave them the best advantage.  
Demi used Sarthis to hook into a pillar and spin around, stabbing a couple knives into the back of one of the men.  
Tsuki spread her wings, diving right between a couple of them and cutting their backs open before heading on.  
Kana jumped onto the back of one guy and stabbed her blade down through his back and when he started to fall, she reeled herself into the next guy and continued the charge.  
Demi snarled, “Everyone get outta my way!”  
Levi glared at her and scolded, “Calm down. Do not get reckless!”  
Demi jumped over another guy and spun, cutting down his back and jumping off of it. “I can take care of myself just fine.”  
Kana laughed as she followed them. “C’mon. Isn’t it obvious? Slayers don’t know anything accept reckless!”  
Levi glared back at her. “Yes but it’s not just your lives at risk. Not to mention – “ He cut through a couple more men. “- you still don’t have another weapon yet so don’t lump yourself in with them right now.”  
Kana whined. “So mean!” She tore down a couple others before she came to a stop on one of the pillars and looked around. Everyone was doing well and maintaining their own. Her eyes narrowed. It was going too well. For an obvious reason.  
Levi landed on the pillar near her. “You noticed, too, huh?”  
“How could I not?” Kana asked. “Mijore and Kenny neither are here.”  
Levi started to agree when there was a loud shout and they both jumped off the pillar and flew around. They flew over just in time to see Hanji be thrown into one of the pillars and she rolled to the ground. Kana shouted and flew down to her while Levi turned, glaring hatefully at the one who threw her. The woman glared back before she and the rest of the men started withdrawing.  
Levi snarled and gave chase. He ordered, “Armin, take care of Hanji, everyone else, persue the MPs!”  
Once Kana was sure that Hanji was still breathing, she let Armin take over before she jumped into the air and joined the hunt. She glanced around at everyone but her eyes narrowed. “Shit.”  
Levi looked over. “What’s wrong?”  
“We’re one short, Captain.” Kana stated. “Looks like Demi wasn’t waiting.”  
Levi narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. You Slayers are reckless as hell, that’s for sure.”


	128. Never Stop Fighting

Demi slowed to a stop and dropped down to the ground behind a pillar. Peeking around it, she could see Historia, an older heavy set man, and on a ledge above them, Eren was chained up, keeping his body locked in place. They even had a gag in his mouth to prevent him from becoming a titan. Demi’s hands tightened around Sarthis. _Bastards…_ She wanted to jump out and cut them up immediately, but she knew that she needed to learn. To protect Eren’s life, she needed to know all she could about the titans and these people seemed like the ones to teach her.  
The old man stated, “We need to hurry Historia… our enemies will be here soon.”  
Historia nodded. “Alright.”  
Eren jerked at his chains and tried to shout something through the gag.  
Historia glared at him and Demi felt her body tense up, possession filling her to her core. Historia asked, “What is it, Eren? Why are you glaring at me like that?”  
The man who must have been Rod, explained, “He’ become aware of his fate. He’s realized where his sinful life has led him… the power he stole will be returned to it’s rightful place, Historia. Inside of you.”  
Demi’s eyes widened. Power he stole…? What in the hell did that mean?  
Rod explained, “This cave was created about a hundred years ago by the power of a special titan. The same is true for the three walls. That titan protected humanity from other titans by creating those gigantic barriers. That is not all the titan graced us with. It wished for a life of peace for us humans who remained. So it’s power reached into our hearts and altered humanity’s memories. A handful of bloodlines were unaffected but neither their descendents nor any other humans remember anythinga bout the history of the world before a century ago. No one now knows how the titans appeared. Except for one person – Frieda Reiss. Freida possessed more than the power of the titans. She also knew everything about this world and how it came to be.  
She gained the power of titans, along with those lost memories of our world at the age of fifteen. When here, eight years ago, she ate her uncle, my younger brother.This is the duty that the royal line, the Reiss family, is charged with. Frieda inherited the power of the titans and the memories of the world from her uncle, her predecessor. The same act had been performed generation after generation for a hundred years. Granting that one human these powers and memories turned her into a living compendium and entrusted her with humanity’s fate. She was free to reveal he mysteries of this world or disclose them to no one.  
Of course no one has ever chosen to reveal the secrets of the world. This is the proof that they inherited the philosophy of the first rule of this land, the creator of our walled world.”  
The man suddenly went quiet and Demi started to step out until he cleared his head and continued, “We need to hurry. You know our situation. Titans have breached the walls. Many, many human lives have been lost. Human even fight human in this foolish world we now find ourselves in. If Fried had used her titan power, none of this would have happened. I daresay we would have been able to rid this world of the titans, too.”  
Historia gasped, “If that’s the case then why is all this happening?”  
Rod looked down. “Because the power of the titans that was stolen from Frieda now resides inside of Eren. It’s true power can only be used by descendants of the Reiss royal family. So long as he is it’s vessel, this hell will not end.”  
Demi felt every muscle in her body tense up. These bastards were going to eat him!   
But someone else felt like joining this shitty party. She watched as the guy reeled down from the ceiling and demanded, “Whoa, whoa hold on.” He landed. “You’re saying that whoever eats Eren can only become the true king if they’re part of the Reiss family?”  
“Yes. So?” Rod replied.  
The man shouted, “So there’s no point in me turning into a titan and eating Eren?”  
Demi snarled. Did everyone want to fucking eat Eren now!? She licked her lips. Well bad news for all of them, that dinner platter was hers and hers alone.  
The guy marched up to Rod and lifted him up, pointing a gun at his head. Rod struggled, but the other guy was much too strong for him.  
Rod struggled to ask, “Do you think I’m lying to you?”  
The other guy laughed, “Nope. I waited for this day because I knew this one time, ya definitely wouldn’t lie. This is your precious succession ritual, isn’t it? Ya knew my intentions this whole time and ya strung me right along. Ya used me! Quite the charmer.”  
Rod continued, “I’m grateful. I’d always thought my brother taking a stray like you off the streets was just another one of his crazy whims but – “  
The guy shoved the barrel of the gun more into Rods’ face. “If ya insult Uri one more time you’re gonna find half your head missin! It’s all the same to me!”  
Historia yanked the gun away from Rod and ordered, “Let go of my father!”  
The guy sighed. “Historia… ya poor thing. Ya get it right? After what he told ya? This old mans’ trying to turn ya into a monster and make ya eat Eren.”  
Historia straightened up. “Aren’t those my orders? What’s so sad about becoming a titan and saving all of humanity?”  
The guy flung his arm out. “Huh? Ya think it’s your mission to eat your friend and upset your little tummy?”  
Responding to her will, Sarthis began shifting in Demi’s hands into a set of small shuriken that she could throw hard and fast.  
Historia shouted, “I’m going to eat Eren and bring my sister back! Then I’ll inherit the history of this world and wipe out all the titans! That is my mission!”  
The guy lowered Rod. “Have ya forgotten what your dad di to ya? Ya were born in the first place out of someone’s misery. Because this man disregarded his place in the world just so he could feel good with a house servant. Your mother had ya because she thought, if things went well, maybe she could become the master’s wife, but your existence was a disgrace to his subjects and the assembly! Everyone wished ya’d never been born, includin’ your daddy here! But then the unthinkable. Those pedigreed brats of his went to meet their maker, all in one night! And, whaddaya know, this nice old fell comes strollin’ up to ya! The assembly ordered us in the interior squad to cleanse the stain on the royal honor by making the whore this man slept with disappear, along with her kid. But he decided to protect you, and just you. He saved your life by coverin’ up your birth and sendin’ ya to the military. Only the wallists knew to keep an eye on ya. Why was that? Cause his paternal instincts finally kicked in and he decided to start lovin’ his daughter?” The guy shoved his blade into Rod’s mouth. “Beep, wrong! He just needed your blood! Not only that, this piece of shit doesn’t want to turn into a titan himself, so he keeps orderin’ his brother and daughter to do it! I got more! He even tried to hide the fact that Frieda and his brats were dead and the power of the titans had been stolen! All ‘cause he was scared that, without power, the Reiss family wouldn’t be the center of the universe anymore. He only started spittin’ out some details when Eren used the power of the titans to take back Trost district! D’ya know how much we lost in those five years?! How many precious lives!? O’ course he don’t give two shits about any of it! Not his family! Not humanity! And certainly not you, Historia! All he cares about is protectin’ himself! So what do you think of your father now!?”  
Rod grabbed the knife and pulled it out of his mouth. With blood dripping down out of his mouth, he argued, “He’s wrong, Historia…there’s something… I haven’t told you…yet…I can’t… be allowed to become a titan… there is a reason. You can’t… trust anyone else…”  
The guy dropped Rod. “Huh. Is that so?”  
Historia gasped and knelt to him. “Father!”  
Rod looked back. “Kenny. You’ve served me well all these years. I’m proud of my brothers’ decision that day. Your own ambitions will not be realized, but I know that humanity will find the right path. You’re free now… find something else to live for and die an old man.”  
Kenny lingered for several minutes, glaring at them before he turned and started to walk away. “That don’t sound too fun.”  
Demi glared. So that was Kenny? The other Ackerman they all had to worry about. She watched as he walked up the steps towards Eren. She readied her shuriken.  
Rod asked, “Kenny, what are you doing?”  
Kenny came to a stop behind Eren. “You just turn into a titan. I won’t get in your way any longer. Just coutn to three first.” He undid the gag in Eren’s mouth.  
Demi’s brows furrowed. Just which side was the bastard on? Was he freeing Eren?  
Kenny shouted, “Both of ya can become titans and fight to the death. If Historia wins, peace reigns eternal. If she loses to Eren, nothing changes.” He spun a knife and made a cut across his forehead.  
Demi jumped and let out a snarl.  
Kenny finished, “It’s probably hard for ya to bite through your tongue right now, ain’t it? I’ll make a little notch for ya.” Eren slumped forward. “Ya want me to keep drawin’ breath till I die I my sleep? Who could even call that livin’?”  
Rod jumped forward. “Historia! Don’t worry! This shot will let you become a powerful titan. I chose the titan that was most suited for battle. You’ll lose control once you become a titan, but there’s still hope. Eren is still in those restraints. Now hurry! But when I say eat him, that’s not exctly it. You just need to bite through his spine and ingest his spinal fluid.”  
Kenny took off towards the ceiling before anything could happen.  
Demi shot out when she saw that Historia took a syringe from Rod and was nearing injecting herself with it. She grabbed the girl and yanked her back, snarling, “Don’t you dare! You’re not touching him!”  
Historia shouted, “Demi! Let me go! I have to do this!”  
Rod gasped and yelled, “Let go of her! That item is precious!”  
Demi snarled. “Oh is it?” She yanked it out of Historia’s hand and threw it on the ground. She grabbed the girl and spun her around, gripping her shoulders. “What the fuck are you doing just going along with this!? I thought you’d be sick of hiding out, taking on fake names and roles! Be yourself, dammit!”  
Historia’s eyes widened. “D-Demi…”  
“Demi no!” Eren screamed, “Let her eat me!”  
Demi’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”  
“All of these things never needed to happen!” Eren cried. “It wouldn’t have if my father hadn’t taken the titan from them!”  
Demi gritted her teeth. “Eren…”  
Historia shook her head, seeing that her father dove for the syrum on the ground. It was starting to evaporate. Almost too late, she realized that he was trying to lick up whatever the fluid was. She grabbed Demi’s hand and pulled her towards the steps. “Demi, come on! We have to get away from him!”  
Demi looked back, seeing what Rod was doing. The injection he was going to give Historia, to turn her into a titan – he was licking it up! She turned and hurried with Historia up to where Eren was.  
Demi slammed the head of her scythe right into the metal rung at his foot that was keeping him held in place.  
Eren shouted, “Please don’t! I can’t live like this- knowing what my father did! The only way to save everyone is for Historia to devour me and take back the titan! It’s my fault that so many people had to die!”  
Demi glared at him and moved in front of him as the area suddenly exploded with light and Rod’s titan began to take form. Demi snarled and cupped his cheeks. “Would you shut up!? You’re not responsible for what your father did! Just as I’m not responsible for what my mother did!”  
Eren’s eyes widened, not understanding what she meant. Had she learned something more about herself while she’d been away from him? Demi shook her head. “Eren please listen to me…there is nothing to gain from giving up! We don’t know that the best solution is to given the titan back! And… even if it was… I wouldn’t give you up! I won’t let the world take you! This damn world has taken everything else from me… from you…! Don’t give in!”  
Demi was continuing trying to free Eren, but the wind blasts were getting worse and she was struggling to keep with him.   
Historia kept her hands on Demi’s back to keep her supported. “D-Demi – “  
She gasped when both of them flew backwards, the wind getting stronger. Before Demi flew back too far, though, she slammed her scythe into the ground and held herself there. She looked up when she heard people talking and the rest of her team was beginning to fly in, many of them landing on the wall because of the intensity of the wind.  
Kana shouted at Demi, “What’s the hold up? Thought he’d be freed by the time we got here.”  
Demi glared back. “You shut up! I’m trying but that freak went and turned titan!”  
Kana narrowed her eyes. It sucked that they didn’t have Leah awake and able to help them. This would be a moment they could really use her shield.   
Jean and Levi made their way up to where Eren was, helping to support him while Demi dragged herself up. She gripped the back of Eren’s pants, keeping herself from flying off as she brought the scythe down on the other leg holder. Once it was broken, she leaned up further and Levi shifted, holding Eren’s arm out. “Hurry up, brat. We’re running out of time.”  
Demi cut through the chain as quickly as she could, snarling at him, “I’m going as fast as I can!”  
She did the same with his other arm that Jean held out and as soon as he was free, all of them went tumbling back to the wall.  
Tsuki summoned Amaak and slowed all of them down before they hit the hard stone wall. Tsuki caught Jean, Demi caught Eren, and Kana caught Levi. Tsuki let time run again and looked up just as the ceiling began collapsing. Over the wind, she shouted, “This is bad!”  
Levi scowled, “Just how shitty can this day get? That thing looks bigger than the Colossal titan.”  
As the titan continued to get bigger and bigger, they were losing their ledge to stand on and there was no where for them to go.  
Demi’s weapon couldn’t assist them, Tsuki turning back time wasn’t a garuntee that they would stop the titan from forming, and Kana had no weapon.  
Eren’s titan was their only hope.  
But Eren collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down like the blood on his face. “I’m sorry everyone… I was useless. I’ve always been from the very beginning. I was never humanity’s greatest hope.”  
Jean shouted, “You’re going to play the tragic hero card now? Seriously? You’ve been able to settle things on your own before, right?”  
Connie argued, “Quit sobbing, this isn’t the worst it’s been.”  
Sasha added, “Not that I want to get used to this!”  
Mikasa added, “We can’t get closer to that titan… we’ll be burned to death.”  
Sasha shouted, “What other option do we have?!”  
Eren shook his head. “There’s nowhere left to run…”  
Demi’s eyes were trembling. Why was he acting so defeated? Didn’t he know that there wasn’t anything else that could be done? He had to try! Didn’t he want to try!?  
Historia asked, “So… we just stand here and hold hands until we burn to death?”  
Eren was trembling. He was hopeless.  
Levi added, “I’m sorry for always doing this to you, but, Eren, you have to make a choice.”  
What choice was there? He couldn’t do it!  
Sarthis turned into a spear and Demi stabbed it into the ground, using it to keep herself standing up against the wind as she stood in front of ERen. She shouted at him, “That’s enough Eren! I’m sick of the crybaby act! You’re not the only one that’s fucked up! We all have! Every single person here did something they know they can’t undo and take back and that they’ve let people down in the worst of ways. I’m among them! But we keep fighting! Aren’t you the one who said that before? We can’t win if we don’t fight…We came all this way… to rescue you. You have a stupid amount of pressure on your shoulders and I hate it…! But it’s because we believe in you. If you fail again, so what? At least you tried!” Demi’s gaze softened. “I’m not ready to say goodbye here. This is my first home… because you gave it to me. This is my family…I’ll fight to the death for all of you.” She let go of Sarthis and wrapped her arms around Eren, pulling him into an embrace. “I know we won’t die here…if you don’t give up…”  
Eren’s eyes were trembling.  
Kana felt a smile form on her lips. Demi looked like a totally different person. The wild, arrogant green Slayer melted into some compassionate, caring person when it came to Eren. She was familiar with that feeling. Just as Demi said… she wasn’t ready to die here either.  
Eren gently pushed Demi back by the shoulders. He picked up a small syrum bottle that had been blown up by the transforming titan. Taking it, he ran against the wind, right towards Rod. As he did, he bit into the glass bottle and in the next moment, the entire area filled with light.


	129. Like No Other

Kana opened her eyes and saw that all around them was a crystal-like structure. It was made of something comparable to what the underground area they were in was, as well as the walls that defended them from titans. In front of them was what appeared to be Eren’s titan, but completely hardened.  
Demi slashed through the crystal and pulled Eren out. Her green eyes were sparkling, “Eren! You did it!”  
Kana smirked, proud of her friends. Tsuki had left a minute ago, to fly around and try to find a way out from the complete cave in around them.  
Eren mumbled something and Demi’s gaze softened, “You saved everyone, Eren.”  
He blinked. “I… did?”  
They all nodded. Sasha teased, “You did, but to be honest, when you leaped forward, bawling your eyes out, it was creepy and I didn’t think there was anyway you could it teary-eyed and sniffling like you were.”  
Demi pushed on Sasha’s head. “Lay off!”  
Jean glanced over. “Captain. Tsuki found an exit.”  
Levi nodded. “Good.”  
Eren was looking around in awe. “So… all of this is…”  
“Yes.” Levi told him. “You were able to harden your titan. Demi cut you out, but it still hasn’t disappeared. I’d say this is pretty big news.”  
Eren gasped, “Oh! That bottle I found! I saw that it was labeled as armor! It can’t be coincidence.”  
Historia looked down. “Whatever it was, it’s all that was there. There’s nothing else left but rubble.”  
“So… it’s gone…?” Eren questioned.  
Levi commented, “There could still be more elsewhere. You used whatever was in that bottle and your titan hardened, something you never able to do all this time. You supported the roof, kept it from caving in and protected us from the heat and the rocks. Obviously no one taught you how to do this, yet you created this huge structure in the blink of an eye. It’s an absurd thought, but this must be how the walls were made, too. In other words… it’s now possible to seal the hole in wall Maria.”  
Eren’s eyes widened.  
Demi grinned and patted his back. “See I knew you could do it!”  
Levi continued, “We took the long way and our paths are littled with corpses of enemies and comrades alike, but regardless of being poor navigators, we made it to our destination.”  
Jean quickly looked over. “Captain, Tsuki says there’s something we need to see.”  
Levi glanced up. “Right. We should get out of here first, then continue.”

Once everyone was back above ground, Eren asked, “Where’d that other titan go?”  
Tsuki pointed out to the horizon. “It’s crawling that way.”  
Armin was sitting in the cart with Hanji and Leah and stated, “I thought the world was coming to an end. The ground broke apart and just as it started collapsing, that thing came out.”  
Eren asked, “Is that really a titan?”  
Armin nodded, “But it’s unlike any we’ve seen. It’s twice the size of the Collosal. And it seems to be extremely hot. All trees around it are catching fire… as well as ignoring nearby humans. Us, I mean.”  
“So it’s an abnormal?” Jean questioned.  
Armin nodded, “If it’s not being controlled by the will of a former human, then yeah. But what happened down there…?”  
Everyone fell silent for a minute and Levi spoke up. “We’re going after that titan. The interior squad should be nearby. Stay on guard.”

Leah, Armin, Hanji, Eren, and Historia rode in the wagon while everyone else surrounded on their horses. They’d been filling Armin in on the details when a weak Hanji opened her eyes. “So the power inside Eren is the founding titan. Only those descended from the Reiss bloodline can use the true power of that titan. However, even fi a Reiss gains it’s power, they’ll be ontrolled by the first king’s ideology which won’t let them free humanity from the titans. That’s interesting… So the first king would call _this_ true peace? What a funny way to look at things.”  
Eren looked at Historia. “That means we still have options. If I let that titan eat me, then Rod Reiss will go back to being a human. We can still bring back the founding titan.”  
Demi glared at him. “What are you saying? You can’t just gi – “  
Eren shook his head. “It’s not giving up, it’s fact. It’s an option.”  
Levi interjected, “Seems that way. If Rod Reiss turns back into a human and we successfully restrain him, then undo the kings brainwashing, that could be a way to save humanity. Are you saying you’re prepared to do that, ERen?”  
Eren stated simply. “Yes.”  
Everyone went quiet and Demi snarled. “No. I swear if we resort to that, then I’ll cut every single one of you down.”  
Eren turned to her, “Demi – “  
“Shut up for a second.” Demi barked. “Your idea of self-sacrifice is noble and I love you for it, but it won’t do anyone any good. If you hand that titan back over then we’re right back where we started. Tell me this. If the Reiss family had a titan that could save humanity all this time, then why wouldn’t they? This brainwashing thing stops them. Eren, your father must have stolen the titan to separate it from the royal bloodline so that it could be used. We can’t undo that!”  
Tsuki pursed her lips. “I think Demi has a point. Feeding the founding titan back, seems like a step backwards.”  
“You’re also forgetting that they can alter memories.” Historia added. “If we give the titan back, we risk everyone’s memories being altered and forgetting every advancement we’ve made.”  
Demi nodded. “Then we have to keep the founding titan from the Reiss bloodline. Your father must have known of someway that it could be used. That answer… could be in the basement you hold the key to.”  
Jean wore a big grin. “And if we can finally plug the hole in wall Maria, getting there is a possibility again. I think we only have one choice.”  
Kana looked at Levi. “What do you say, Captain?”  
Levi sighed. “I guess things have gotten easier.”  
Hanji looked up. “I agree with that option, too. But Historia, are you sure? Unless we have some use for it, we can’t just let that titan stroll around inside the wall. I don’t think we can restrain it either. I’m saying… we’re going to have ot kill your dad.”  
Historia looked down. “Eren, I’m sorry. When we were back there, I really did intend to become a titan and kill you. Not for humanity’s sake. It was because I wanted to believe my father was right. I didn’t want him to hate me.” Her gaze went to Demi. “Thank you for stopping me. It would have been a mistake. I have to live for myself now. And that means saying goodbye to my father.”

“Hey stop! Can’t you hear me!? I’m talking to you, stupid!” Eren was standing up in the wagon, screaming, trying to imitate what he’d done when he commanded the titans before. “Stop right now! You, Rod Reiss! You tiny old man!”  
Levi glared at Eren who stiffened up under his gaze.  
Kana laughed out loud. “Punch your ego much?”  
Hanji looked out at the titan. “I don’t see him reacting at all. Back when you called the titans, did you do anything other than scream?”  
Eren thought it over. This time he took a swing while he shouted, “Stop, titan!”  
Eren kept trying but it was pointless. As he did, another person rode up on their horse. “Levi!”  
“Erwin.” Levi responded.  
“How is everyone?” Erwin asked.  
“Only Hanji is hurt.” He answered. When he did, Hanji shouted, “Heywa Erwin!”  
Erwin chuckled, “Doesn’t look too bad. Well done, all of you.”  
Levi explained, “Eren’s scream isn’t working. I have a long list of things to tell you but first, that titan is Rod Reiss. I think we need to ask your opinion, Commander.”

Demi had her arms crossed and her head tipped back. “I think we have to purge you of that disease.”  
Kana glared back at the green Slayer who was standing just around the corner from her. “Shut up.” She started to say something else before she leaved over and threw up again in the alley.  
“For all I know, it can spread!” Demi argued. “I still think it’s karma for using more weapons.”  
Kana rolled her eyes and wiped her mouth, standing back up. “Why do you have to be the one that knows all my secrets?”  
Demi chuckled. “Cause I pay attention.”  
They walked back over to the crowd in time to hear an argument taking place between Erwin and a garrison captain. The captain shouted, “What’re you thinking, Erwin?! You’re telling me to keep the citizens here? Not to evacuate them? That titan will be here by dawn!”  
They had come back within the wall and obviously the guards were not a fan of Erwin’s plan.  
Hanji explained, “It’s an abnormal.”  
He argued, “So what if it is?!”  
Hanji continued, “Since it’s abnormal, it’s attracted to areas with higher concentrations of humans. This guy is so abnormal that he wouldn’t be attracted by a small village. You’d need a place the size of this walled city for him to react. So if you were to suddenly evacuate these citizens inside wall Sina, then that’s where it would be attracted and it’d probably destroy the wall to get to you. Eventually it’d reach the capital of Mitras, which has the highest population density and humanity would be dealt a ruinous blow.”  
Those who were arguing all suddenly went quiet.  
Erwin continued, “In other words, our only option is to take that titan out here, at the wall around Orvud District. And to do that, we need a large population of citizens to act as bait. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that our first duty as soldiers is to protect the lives of the people. We will do everything we can to keep even a single citizen from being killed, even if we do fail to stop the target. Tell the people of the district and surrounding areas that an emergency evactuation drill is being held. We will make arrangements to move them in or out of Orvud quickly depending on the situation.”  
The Garrison soldier was trembling with frustration. “I guess we have no choice.”  
Erwin stated, “This titan is bigger than anything we’ve seen before. But that means it’s also just a big, slow target. The cannons mounted on top of the wall should be extremely effective against it but if somehow that still doesn’t defeat it… we will have to make full use of the power of the Survey Corps.”  
Erwin looked at Eren and then his gaze went over to the Slayers.  
Armin started to open his mouth when he heard some shifting in the wagon behind them. His eyes widened and he turned around to see Leah sit up.  
Tsuki shouted, “You’re back!”  
Leah rubbed her head. “Guys…? What happened?”  
Armin wrapped his arms around her. “We have so much to catch you up on, but right now… I’m just glad you’re awake again…”  
Erwin walked over to all of them. “It’s been a while, Slayers. From the reports, it sounds like you’ve all grown quite exponentially.”  
Demi rolled her eyes. “I don’t know that I’d say that.”  
Erwin looked at Leah. “Last I saw any of you, Leah you had only just awakened your power. Now I hear that you saved everyone’s lives in Stohess against…a clone that had infiltrated the MPs?”  
Leah blushed and looked away. “It was a spur of the moment act.”  
“And we’re all still here because of it.” Kana agreed, making her friend blush harder. She smirked and then looked at Erwin. “Eren isn’t the only hope for humanity. You’ve got the rest of us here, ready to fight as well.”

All evening, everyone was preparing for the battle to come in the morning. Because so, soldiers were taking their chances to get brief thirty minute naps in between getting back to work. Levi was moving supplied when he noticed the two soldiers whose turn it was to rest were coiled up between a couple storage sheds with a blanket over their shoulders. Kana and Leah were laying together against it, their heads together, snoring soundly. Though the sight warmed his heart, it was also a painful reminder to the past. Leah’s expressions had a tendancy to be just as innocent and pure as Isabel’s. He could almost see it again. But remembering her words, her final goodbye, he knew he couldn’t dwell on such a thing.  
He started to move on when he heard his name. He stiffened as the commander walked up and came to a stop beside him. “It appears I was wrong. I owe you an apology.”  
Levi glanced up at him before looking back at the girls. “It doesn’t matter.”  
Erwin paused. “There wasn’t a fathomable explanation as to how it could have been her. I’d question everything about the girl since she disappeared after I knew she’d survived. You lied and told everyone she had died, but I knew that wasn’t true. Then again, you didn’t waste the lie on me, you just never gave me a real answer back then.”  
Levi commented, “It’s not like I knew back then either. She never once told me she was from the future. I wouldn’t have believed her of course, until after I saw that Slayer power the first time.”  
“I see.” Erwin stated. “It makes sense then. Though, I’m sure it makes the battlefield all the harder for you.”  
Levi went quiet at this.  
“You’ve always trusted me and I will continue to trust you.” Erwin stated. “Just remember, despite learning the truth of all of this…we still must put Humanity first.”  
Levi lingered another moment before he carried on.


	130. Queen of the Walls

The next morning, the town was alive with noise. A crowd of people was being ushered towards the wall in preparation for the ‘drill’. As they waited for the titan, several of their squad was looking over the ledge.  
Connie had his hands on his hips. “It wouldn’t surprise me if a riot broke out today.”  
Jean rubbed his neck. “Yeah. After all, the royal government was just taken over by the military.”  
Tsuki frowned. “It can’t really be helped, I guess. It’s to protect them…”  
“Yeah but wouldn’t they be safer if we could actually evacuate them? I know we can’t, but…” Jean sighed heavily.  
Demi sat down next to Eren who kept looking at his hand. There was a chance that this battle could get out of hand. She wasn’t sure what to expect anymore than anyone else did. But despite her own opinions on the matter, she knew that she needed to prepare for the worst. She reached over and took Eren’s hand. “Hey… can we… talk about something?”  
Eren looked at her with concern. “Yeah, what is it? Is it about the battle?”  
“Kind of.” Demi stated. She brought her legs up and crossed them before puffing out her cheeks. “So…you didn’t see it… but…that fight against Mijore…it was… bad. And since getting out of it, I’ve been thinking more and more on the bonds with Slayers. I… think we should, too?”  
Eren’s eyes widened. “You do? I thought you were against it?”  
“I was.” Demi stated. “But…Leah and Tsuki have become really powerful because of it. And… if it will help me be more powerful as well…then…I could protect you.”  
Eren squeezed her hand. “You don’t need to protect me. But you also don’t need to convince me. Let’s do it. It will make us both feel better, right?”  
Demi nodded her head and held her hand out. Sarthis slithered into it and turned into a knife. She flipped it around and cut her palm open before doing the same to Eren. Once both of their palms were bleeding, they put their hands together and in the next moment, both of them seemed to wince.  
Demi pulled back and Eren blinked. “Was that it?”  
She nodded. “That’s it. Now when I summon Sarthis, you’ll be a part of us.”  
His gaze softened. “I hope I can be of help… more so than what I have been as a titan…”  
Demi rubbed the back of his neck. “Stop beating yourself up, Eren. You’ve been doing great.”  
Tsuki knelt down behind them and put her elbows on their backs. “Bout time. Now we’ve got three super powerful Slayers.”  
Kana cleared her throat.  
Tsuki stood and put her hands up. “Hey I’m not saying that you’re not super powerful or anything…just that you don’t even have a weapon anymore.”  
Kana sighed and crossed her arms. “That doesn’t mean I’m not super strong.”  
Tsuki giggled. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”  
Mikasa looked down at Sasha who was just staring at her rations. “You aren’t eating. Are you okay?”  
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m just not hungry.”  
Demi gasped, “What?!”  
Eren asked, “Is something wrong with you?”  
Connie grumbled, “I’m not hungry either.”  
Jean agreed, “It could be because we’ve been killing people left and right until now.”  
Eren looked at him in surprise. “What?”  
Jean sighed. “A lot has happened. And to think this damn day still isn’t over after everything…”  
Tsuki frowned and reached over, taking his hand in hers. “There’s hope though, if we pull through this. But if we mess up, humanity will be forced into history’s worse game of hide and seek against that titan.”  
Connie complained, “Why’d that king do something so stupid?”  
“That’s my fault.”  
They all turned and looked to see Historia walking up, feeling decked in her gear.  
Kana demanded, “What are you doing?”  
Demi stood. “You can’t be up here!”  
Levi walked up and glared at her, “She’s right. You can’t partake in this battle. I thought I ordered you to wait in a safe place? What are you thinking?”  
Historia straightened up and argued, “I’m here for a showdown with my own fate. Captain Levi, you’re the one who told me that I needed to choose whether to run or fight.”  
Levi looked away and cursed. “Dammit. There’s no time for this.”  
The rumbling of the titan approaching rattled them all.  
“It’s coming.”

“Fire!!!!”  
As the titan approached, every cannon on top of the wall was pointed at the titan and fired at once, trying to blow out the nape of the massive titan. The rest of them lingered at the edge of the wall, watching to see what would come of the carnage.  
Erwin growled, “How’d he like that?”  
The smoke began to clear and the titan was still moving towards them. The cannons continued to fire.  
Erwin complained, “The ground cannons seem to have even less of an effect. The cannons on the wall have a much better angle and they didn’t do shit. What’s going on?”  
Levi looked up at him. “The troops, the weapons, the command structure, it’s all been scraped together. Besides which, this is the interior on the _north_ side. They’re nto going to be like the Wall Rose Garrison on the southern front.”  
Erwin argued, “Look, this is without a doubt the best fighting force we could muster.”  
“Yes. I understand that very well.” Levi stated. “After all, the survey corps’ strategy here is nothing more than a gamble, anyway. Just like everything you come up with.”  
Erwin nodded his head and looked at the Slayers that were eagerly looking on. “It looks like we may have to utilize our best weapons for this after all.”  
Levi looked between Erwin and the others but he said nothing. Erwin walked over to them and asked, “Will all of you be prepared? As anticipated… the cannons won’t stop him. We’ll be relying on your abilities as well as Eren to protect our wall.”  
Leah and Tsuki both saluted, “Sir!”  
Demi perched her hands on her hips and looked out at the titan. “Yeah. We’ll take care of it.”  
Tsuki wrapped her arm around Kana’s neck and teased, “And this time, Kana, you get to just sit back and watch us!”  
Kana grumbled, “Yeah yeah. Just wait until I get myself a weapon and then I’ll be right back in it”  
Leah giggled, “You sound so sad, you’re more upset than you’re letting on.”  
Kana growled at her, “I am not!”  
Hanji ran up to them a bit later, “Heyyy! How’s the shelling going!?”  
Levi grumbled, “About as well as a swarm of cicadas pissing on it.”  
“Crap…” Hanji grumbled. “Then plan B it is…”  
Erwin’s gaze went to Historia who was helping to tie rope for some of the traps. He stated, “If I may, Historia, in the event we survive this, you’re going to be the Queen who rules the world inside these walls. Naturally, it’s a problem for you to be on the front lines like this.”  
Historia sighed and straightened up. “I have a question for you, commander. Do you think the people are so naïve they’d obey a ruler in name only? I have my own thoughts on that. I’ve assigned myself a mission I have to carry out. That’s why I’m here now.”  
Demi and Eren were also helping with the traps as Erwin and Historia spoke. He paused and looked out into the town, see a few kids looking up at them. Eren muttered, “Those kids… are just like us on that day…”  
Armin looked over and Demi frowned. “What?”  
“When the walls came down… we had no idea what was about to happen.” Eren explained.  
Armin nodded his head. “If they think there’s no way that a titan bigger than that wall is going to attack them today, then they’re probably going to see the exact same thing we saw that day. But unlike that day, there are soldiers on top of the wall who can fight back. And we are thos soldiers.”  
Demi cupped Eren’s cheek. “And we will protect them… I swear we will.”  
Eren gave her a confident look back. “Yeah. You’re right.”  
Another round of cannon fire went off.  
The Garrison captain shouted, “Alright! The flesh of it’s nape is exposed! We’ll finish it off with the next round! Hurry and reload!”  
Before they could, the wind shifted and suddenly the steam and heat of the titan came at them instead of blowing the other way. Most of the soldiers put their arms up to defend their faces.  
Levi cursed, “Dammit. This is bad.”  
Several of the soldiers all shouted about not being able to see anything. The Garrison captain ordered, “Directly below! Fire!”  
The cannons went off again, but once more, it did no good. In fact, once the rounds stopped, the wall began to shake and tremble and the titan began to raise up the wall.  
Erwin cursed, ‘We were too late.”  
A hand reached the top of the wall and the huge titan pushed itself up. It’s incomplete body towered high above the walls, giving a clear view for all to see it’s organs, free floating, ready to spill out, as well as it’s incomplete and open face.  
At the sight of it, all of the people inside the walls began screaming and crying in fear, rushing away from the walls.  
The Garrison captain shouted, “Retreat!” He looked back. “Damn it… it’s going to break through…The town I grew up in… it’s done for!”  
All of the Survey Corps members were taking turns dumping bareels of water on themselves. Levi put his hand on the shoulder of the Garrison captain who was freaking out. He ordered, “Get down there, Garrison. We’ll take over from here.”  
Erwin raised his signal flare. He looked at the Slayers. “Now, time to commence the attack!”  
Demi summoned Sarthis to her hands, creating a her typical, massive scythe as she ran towards the titan. It was starting to climb itself up over the wall, but Tsuki held her hands out. Amaak formed there and she held her scepter out towards the titan. Leah raised her hand and several lavender platforms appeared in between the Slayers and the titan, creating a path between them and the arms of the titan.  
The blue light appeared over half of Jean’s face. Purple light appeared over half of Armin’s face. Green light appeared over half of Erens.  
Time stopped around the massive titan and Tsuki clenched her hands. “Now!”  
Demi darted forward, leaping up across the panels that gave her a direct line straight to the wrists of the titan. The limp little things were the only thing holding it up. Demi sliced through them like butter. Blood splattered across her and the others, but she let out a cry of joy. “All you, Eren!”  
Kana’s eyes widened as she looked at friends. They had come so damn far in so short of time. They were amazingly strong now.  
Eren erupted into his titan form but, different from usual, there was a green glow over the left side of his face. It was etched into his skin much like the lines that the Slayers wore on their bodies.  
Eren picked up the huge net full of gunpowder barrel and held it over his shoulder.

__  
“So if we want to defeat that titan, we need to shove gunpowder into it’s mouth and hope we get lucky enough o blow up it’s neck?” Levi asked, all of them standing around the map that Erwin had laid out for them to follow.  
“That’s right.” Erwin explained. “If the titan is hot enough the gunpowder should ignite and explode on it’s own even without a detonator.”  
“If the titan has it’s mouth open wide like an idiot.” Levi argued.  
Erwin nodded. “That’s right. We can’t expect a surface explosion to work. We need the explosion to come from inside of it. I don’t know if it’s trying to be careful or what, but the target is dragging it’s face along the ground as it moves. In other words, it may not even have a mouth to open. That’s what we’re gambling on this time.”  


Eren let out a roar as he charged and threw the massive net of barrels right into the exposed mouth of the titan. Just as they had hoped, the net of barrels fell into the mouth and rolled down just a bit into it’s throat. Under the heat of the titan they exploded and massive pieces of the huge ass titan flew everywhere.  
As soon as they were flying all over the place, Erwin shouted, “All troops! Use your gear to finish it off! Even a titan this gigantic has a weak point that’s only one meter long and ten centimeters wide! Unless we destroy it’s real body, it will regenerate itself once again and create a shield of heat. Don’t waste this opportunity!”  
All of them took off, slicing through different chunks, blasting off to each one, cutting through as many as they could.  
Kana cut through one and glanced over when she saw an overly large piece soar across the sky. Her eyes narrowed. But Historia had hooked into it and was flying towards it with her swords raised. She expertly sliced all the way through it, cutting it completely in half and when she did, it exploded.

Historia landed on a cart of goods and both swords dropped from her hands. Several citizens all rushed around her, asking questions.  
“Hey are you okay?”  
“Are you hurt?”  
“She’s not wearing a uniform… what’s her posting?”  
“What branch?”  
Ignoring their questions, she slowly got to her feet. Once she stood up straight, she exclaimed, “I am Historia Reiss. The true ruler of these walls.”


	131. Some Kid's Dad

Now that the titan was finished, came the part that everyone dreaded. It was time to clean up all of the messes that they had created the last several days. The mess at the military compound, the explosion in Stohess, and now the titan here in Orvud. It was time to clear the streets, move supplies, take counts, and clean corpses.  
Each soldier was taking their duties, playing their part in recovering after the battle. Kana and the other slayers were loading up supplies in a wagon when she happened to see Levi approach Erwin. He stated simply, “I’m going to go check the chapel for corpses.”  
Erwin nodded his head. “Alright. Any survivors could be dangerous. Take a squad.”  
Levi nodded and turned away but Kana trotted up to him. “I’ll join you, Rivi.” He looked back forward and tipped his head, motioning for her to join him. As she watched him as they headed out, she could almost sense what was on his mind. Despite their differences, he had spent a part of his childhood with this Kenny guy. What she couldn’t figure out though, was whether he hoped he was alive or dead.

When the reached the rubble, Kana felt her breath catch in her throat. Amongst the rock, there were plenty of broken bodies scattered around. The chances of survival… of anyone… was slim. Her eyes narrowed. This would have been all of them if it weren’t for Eren and his titan. “Guess we should thank our lucky stars that Eren was able to harden his titan. We’d all be smashed.”  
Levi was slow to respond. “Yeah…the brat really came through.”  
Kana glanced back at him. “You’re looking for Kenny right?”  
His back was to her. “Yes.”  
They dug for a while, but a lot of the corpses were unidentifiable or clearly not his. It wasn’t until some time later that another member of the squad rushed up, saying they had found Kenny the ripper near the path the titan had taken to the wall.

“Kenny.”  
The old man was slumped against a tree, but he was in bad shape. There was blood all over him and what wasn’t covered in the crimson was burned – badly. Even Kana could tell there was no hope for the guy.  
Levi lowered his gun as Kenny coughed blood and grumbled, “Oh… it’s you.”  
“All of your men who fought us have been crushed.” Levi stated, “Are you the only one left?”  
Kenny sighed. “Looks that way.”  
The squad member who led them there commented, “Captain… he’s…”  
Levi dismissed him, “Report back. We’ll be fine.”  
“Yes sir.” He stated.  
Levi went quiet after the guy ran off and Kana waited. She wasn’t sure yet if she should leave as well, but curiosity kept her feet planted firmly on the ground.  
Finally Levi spoke again, “Severe burns, all that blood loss. You’re a goner.”  
“Oh?” Kenny questioned. “I wonder.”  
Beside Kenny, under his hand was a case that had a needle and some sort of viles of syrum. They looked similar to what Eren had eaten before going titan in the underground cavern. He explained, “I swiped one from Rod’s bag. I’m guessin’ using one of these’ll make me a titan.” He laughed weakly. “I’ll be a stupid titan. But… it should keep me alive for a little longer…”  
The silence that filled the void felt like it was a hundred pounds. Kana tensed up. If he did it, she would be ready to take him out in a second. But she was worried about how close Levi was to him. Then again… with a gun in hand, there’s no way he’d inject himself before Levi could shoot him.  
Levi stated, “You’ve ahd the time and energy before this to inject yourself. Why didn’t you?”  
“Huh.” Kenny stated. “I wonder…If I didn’t do it right, I’ll probably turn out all messed up like him.”  
Levi glared at him. “There’s no way you’d sit around and wait to die. Don’t you have a better excuse?”  
“Sure, I don’t want to die. And… I want power. But…oh…” Kenny rambled. “I think I just got it… why he did that…” When Levi looked at him questioningly, he continued, “Every last person I’ve seen… was the same way. Whether it was booze, women… or even god. Family… the king… dreams…children…power…they couldn’t keep going unless they were drunk on something. They were all slaves to something. Even him…” He suddenly started coughing and choking on his own blood. He demanded, “What are you!? A hero!?”  
Levi set his gun down and gripped Kenny’s shoulders to force him back up right. He ordered, “Tell me everything you know! Why doesn’t the first king want humanity to survive?”  
Kenny scoffed. “Like I’d know. But… it’s the reason we Ackermans opposed him.”  
Levi glared. “So it’s true. My last name is Ackerman as well. You… what were you to my mother… really?”  
Kenny started laughing. “You idiot… I was just… her brother…”  
Levi’s eyes widened. “That day… why did you leave me?”  
Kenny lowered his head. “Cause… I can’t be some kid’s dad.” He gripped the syringe holder and lifted it up, shoving it into Levi’s chest.  
Levi stared at it for several seconds before he looked up, his eyes wide with shock. “Kenny?”  
But Kenny Ackerman had already passed.  
Levi stared at him for several seconds before rolling back onto his heels and standing up. Kana walked up to him and touched his back. “Rivi…?”  
His breathing shuddered. “I’m fine.”  
“No you’re not.” Kana urged. She looked down at the man. “So… you didn’t know, and he never told you that he was your uncle?”  
Levi shook his head. “No he didn’t. Probably rightfully so. Guy like him… would have been a shitty father anyway.”  
Kana found his hand with her own and gently turned him around. When she did, their foreheads came to rest together and she closed her eyes. “It doesn’t make it any better though… does it?”  
“No…” He whispered. He leaned more into her, as though he needed her to support him and her heart jumped at the chance. There was nothing in the world she’d rather do than help him through his struggles, just as he had done for her. His head slid down and came to rest against her neck and shoulder and her arms wrapped around him, cradling him to her. He wasn’t crying, but his body felt weak. She could tell that it was one of the tougher blows for him.  
And she would hold him until he was better.

The next day, in front of a crowd of cheering people, Historia was crowned queen. From the comments of all of those within the crowd, it seemed that the people agreed with the decision to place her on the throne. But her being the one to finish off the titan had done nothing but helped solidify that role in the eyes of her fellow citizens.  
After her ceremony, though, she caught up with the rest of her squadmates, all of them walking down the hall.  
Eren asked, “Hold on, are you really gonna do it, Historia?”  
Historia glared up at him. “Y-you said yourself that I should!”  
Kana was having to hold back her giggle. Even she couldn’t wait to see how this played out.  
Eren fanned his hands, “It was the Reeves company boss’ final request… er rather final joke but…if you can let it go, you should.”  
Historia argued, “I’m not fit to be queen unless I do it!”  
Jean smirked, “Yeah, Historia, that’s the spirit.”  
Tsuki was giggling as well and playfully hit his arm. “Don’t encourage this, Jean!”  
Jean laughed, “Oh come on, you wanna see her do it, too.”  
Demi was rubbing her hands together. “This is gonna be good.”  
They came to a stop in the hallway when Levi approached them. He looked at them expectantly but was met with silence for several moments.  
Finally Historia sucked in a deep breath and let out a cry that sounded more like someone afraid for their life than a battle charge. And her punch ended up being less of a punch and more of a light tap against Levi’s side.  
Everyone stared in shock, curious to what would happen.  
Historia jumped back and raised her fists, laughing a scared kind of laugh. “Now what? I’m your queen so I dare you to hit me back! Whaddaya say to th – “  
Levi started chuckling. “Thanks guys. I needed that.”  
Kana smiled, his laugh was such a relieving sound to hear.

Demi kicked the door to the bathroom open. “Time to purge the disease from the tainted!”  
Kana jumped so suddenly from the toilet that she almost hit her head on the door. She cursed and leaned back, glaring at her friend. “Would you fucking shut up!? Get lost or shut the fucking door!”  
Demi had one of the blades resting on her shoulder and she tapped it up and down. “I can’t leave till we purge this nonsense. You’ve been getting sick for two weeks now.”  
Kana glared at her. “How did you know it was two weeks?”  
Demi glared back. “Why do you think I _started_ following you when you got sick? I noticed you take off out of the cabin super fast one day. Anyway, okay resolution time.” She pointed her sword at her. “Plead your crimes or I’m cutting it out of you.”  
Kana snarled and pushed the blade away. “Knock it off you lunatic! I’m not diseased so you’re not cutting anything out of me!”  
Demi pulled her sword back, resting it on her shoulder again. “So. You’re not diseased. Then are you pregnant?”  
Kana gasped and her face turned red. “What!? Of course I’m not, I can’t be!”  
Demi leaned on the door. “Ohhh? Why not? Have you and the captain not done it yet?”  
Kana’s face was getting more and more red. “Th-that’s none of your business! But I’m just saying I can’t be pregnant because just a few weeks ago, I was – “ Kana started counting on her fingers, trying to recall the time line of events. As she narrowed down to her location, a grim expression suddenly crossed her face. “Oh. Oh god.”  
Demi purred. “Hmmm? So tell me, Kana. What were you and the captain doing in the past?”  
Kana put her hands to her temples. “Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god.”  
Demi started laughing. “I’m gonna take that as a yes.”  
Kana hissed at her. “I didn’t even think about this. But even though that was six years ago, for me it’s only been a few weeks. Fuck….”  
Demi sang. “I love when I’m right. Time to face the music, Slayer, you’re – “  
Kana covered her mouth and hissed. “Shut up!”  
The door opened again and Tsuki stepped in. “There you guys are. What’s going on?”  
Demi looked at her and started laughing gleefully against her hand.  
Kana released her. “Nothing. Demi is just following me everywhere now. Even to the bathroom to – “ Kana turned around quickly and knelt down and threw up again.  
Tsuki gasped. “Are you okay!?”  
Demi ran her thumb along her blade. “Oh she’ll be okay. Once I cut her disease out.”  
“Disease?” Tsuki asked. “You can’t cut disease out, Demi.” She turned back to Kana and asked, “Are you alright? What is she talking about?”  
Kana wiped her mouth and then walked over and started washing her hands. “Ignore Demi, okay? She’s fucking insane. But… I can’t tell you at the moment. I need to go talk to someone first.’  
Tsuki puffed her cheeks. “You’re keep secrets you can’t let me in on?”  
Kana looked away. “It’s er…well it’s not…I…just… give me a little bit okay? I promise I’ll tell you really soon.”  
Tsuki sighed. “Why does Demi get to know?”  
Kana seethed, “That stalker won’t leave me alone!”  
Tsuki giggled. “Should I stalk you, too?”  
Kana glared at them both. “I’m leaving.”

Erwin, Hanji, and Levi had just left a meeting with the other commanding officers of the different branches. Erwin had continued talking with Nile and a couple others after leaving but Hanji and Levi stopped to talk in the hallway. They had barely begun discussing anything when Kana came around the corner and grabbed the back of Levi’s jacket. To Hanji, she stated, “I’m stealing him a minute, sorry.”  
Hanji just laughed and waved. “Okay, you two have fun!”  
Kana took him into the nearest empty room and shut the door behind them. Levi glared at her, “What is the meaning of this?”  
Kana immediately looked around, checking to make sure no one else was in the room before she started fiddling her fingers together. “Er…”  
Levi straightened up, realizing she looked rattled. “What is it?”  
“You see…I uh…” She cleared her throat and turned fully to him. “I think we should tell the others about our relationship.”  
His brow cocked a bit. “Alright. Why this so suddenly though?”  
Kana started rubbing furiously at the back of her neck. Why was one sentence so hard to speak? “So uh… because…I think…um…I’m fairly certain that I…uh…” She looked up and took a deep breath. Just spit it out. Dawdling doesn’t make it go away. “I think I’m pregnant.”  
There was a long silence and Levi’s eyes widened.  
Kana put her hands up. “I know that sounds crazy. But when you think about it, less than a couple months ago I was in the underground and you and I were…” She fanned her hands. “I’ve been getting sick a lot lately and it honestly would make sense and there’s not really any other… explanation so…um…” She looked up at him again, shyly, waiting for his reaction.  
Levi looked away and for some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about Kenny’s last words. It felt almost redeeming that at this time he would learn that he…  
Levi stepped forward and cupped her cheeks, pulling her into a slow kiss. Kana accepted and eagerly returned it but when he pulled back, she trembled through asking, “So uh… are you happy or what? Give me something to go here, Rivi.”  
His forehead rested on hers and he gave her a soft smile. “I’m happy beyond words, Kana.”  
Kana let out the heaviest sigh she had by far and gently pulled his hands off her face. “Okay good. Cause now I’m gonna go get sick again.”


	132. Pure Happiness

“Wow.”  
Kana was surprised to see the table full of people again. The little café that Trinity+1 had pretty much grown up around was full of their new team. Where it had used to just be her, Tsuki, Clay, and Leah, now their partners were here, too – Jean, Mikasa, and Armin. Sasha and Connie were squabbling in a couple chairs as well. And Eren and Demi were sitting on the other side. The only squad member not present was the Queen herself.  
Kana walked up to the couple empty chairs with Levi at her side. She commented, “When’s the last time we’ve been here?”  
Tsuki stopped sipping at her drink and announced, “Before Annie turned into a titan. Around the time we learned we were Slayers.”  
“Wow.” Kana muttered again. She sat down in one of the chairs and Levi joined her. Their usual barista came out and took their drink orders as well.  
Demi playfully glared at Kana, “Oh no, you should be in quarantine you disease ridden freak.”  
Kana kicked her chair over, knocking the Slayer out and to the ground. Eren immediately scooted back and asked, “Are you okay!?”  
Kana glared down at her. “Oh she’s fine. In fact, maybe she busted her head and when it heals, it’ll work better.”  
Tsuki rotated her straw around her drink. “She will not stop talking about how we should put you under leaches.”  
Demi laughed. “Hey home remedies sometimes work.”  
Kana rolled her eyes.  
Leah smiled at all of them. “It’s fun to have so many people around the table now though. Our little crew has changed so much. And it’s only been a few months…”  
Kana glared playfully at Leah. “Hey you shut up. It may have only been a few months for you guys, but it’s been a year and a half for me.”  
“Oh yeah…” Leah stated. “That whole time thing is weird.”  
Armin commented, “Makes you really appreciate how powerful Tsuki’s ability is.”  
Tsuki looked away with pink on her cheeks and scratched at her chin. “Well… I wouldn’t really say that…”  
Jean rubbed her shoulder. “Don’t sell yourself short. It’s awesome. There may have been a few… hiccups… learning to control it but it all worked out.”  
Demi pointed a finger. “Just everyone keep in mind the next time you decide to piss her off, she can send your ass to another time. Maybe before the walls so you can get eaten by titans.”  
Tsuki gasped, “I wouldn’t do that!”  
Leah giggled, “Just depends on how mad we make you right?”  
“Stop guys!” Tsuki shouted, her face red.  
Jean was laughing. “Aw, look how cute she gets when she’s all blushing!”  
Kana smirked. “Also keep in mind that she has bad aim, too. She dropped me off in midair and I landed on a slab of concrete. Thanks for that.”  
Tsuki cried out, “I’m so sorry!” Tears formed in her eyes as she looked down with a huge blush.  
Jean waved his hand. “Alright, alright, enough bullying her, she’s gonna cry.”  
“Damn.” Demi stated. “I was just getting warmed up.”  
Tsuki grumbled, “Hey, well, don’t forget that Leah has a power too. Pick on her.”  
“Yeah well your ability ruins my power!” Leah stated. “Ever since you started messing with time, I can’t tell if someone is actually going to die when I feel sick or not!”  
Tsuki squeaked. “I’m sorry!” She shouted again, making them all laugh.  
Kana snickered, “Face it, it’s all gonna come back to you, no matter what.”  
Demi grumbled, “Besides, shut the hell up about your super cool powers. You’re making Kana and I jealous over not having special abilities.”  
Tsuki laughed and leaned on her elbows. “What do you mean you and Kana? You’re the only one without special abilities.”  
“What?” Demi hissed.  
Tsuki pointed her thumb at Kana. “She can use multiple weapons. We can’t, right?”  
Demi grumbled. “Well we’ve never tried…but to my knowledge that’s right.”  
“Which isn’t much considering you all lost your memories.” Jean stated.  
Eren glared at him. “Don’t make it sound like she’s stupid!”  
Jean made a face and arched a brow. “You wanna fight Eren? I’ll take you on!”  
Both of them jumped up. “I’ll knock that horseface right off your face!”  
Tsuki sipped at her drink. “Some things never change, huh?”  
Leah laughed, “If we just let them fight, we’re going to get kicked outta here.”  
Tsuki giggled. “No way, the barista would never kick us out. We’re his favorite customers.” She leaned back with a long sigh and tipped her head back. “Man, it’s nice to have a breather and relax for a hot minute. It feels like it hasn’t been this peaceful for a long time.”  
Leah nodded. “I wish it could stay like this.”  
“Yeah, I agree.” Armin added, “But we know that it can’t. We need to jump on this opportunity and take back Wall Maria as soon as we can. We know Eren has the power now. If we wait, we just risk the Armor and Collosal titan coming back.”  
“We’ll have to face them either way.” Kana stated.  
“They won’t just sit back and let us take the wall they worked so hard to destroy.” Levi added.  
Tsuki whined. “Oh come on…! Can’t we wait a day to talk about grim stuff?”  
Armin chuckled. “Sorry. You’re right.”  
Leah stretched her arms up. “Yeah, let’s just enjoy it. It’s a beautiful evening, the weather is nice, and for 2.5 seconds, nothing is attacking us.”  
“Well except Demi.” Kana taunted. “She’s getting in every shot she can.”  
Demi smirked back. “It’s my greatest talent. Especially when it comes to a disease ridden fool such as yourself.”  
Kana snarled and put her in a headlock and started choking her. “You know damn well I’m not diseased, so knock it off!”  
Tsuki sipped at her drink. “You gonna tell us why she keeps saying that or what?”  
Kana paused in choking Demi took look at her other friend. She could clearly see that she was frustrated and wanted to know. So she supposed it was as good of time as any to tell them. She glanced at Levi who occupied himself sipping from his tea. Looking back forward, she said simply, “Yes. I will.”  
Demi escaped her hold and leaned on the table. “Oh this is gonna be good.”  
Kana sighed. “She keeps saying that because I keep getting sick. And the reason for that…is because…I think I’m pregnant.”  
Tsuki nearly dropped her drink. “You’re _what_?!”  
Leah was waving her hands frantically around. “Whoa whoa whoa slow down!”  
Tsuki gasped, “First you get engaged without telling me anything and now you’re having a kid!? What - ? Who - ? When – ?”  
Kana blushed and glanced away. “It’s Levi’s.”  
They all went quiet.  
Jean was the first to speak. “Now _that’s_ a twist.”  
Tsuki was looking back and forth between them. “Wh- so your engagement is to the captain as well?”  
Kana nodded.  
Tsuki was still in utter shock.  
Leah sipped at her drink. “I knew.”  
Demi pointed across the table. “You’re a liar! I was the only one that knew.”  
Leah shook her head. “You were not! I had a hunch, I just never said anything.”  
“You are so lying. A hunch is not the same as being in on the secret.” Demi crossed her arms.  
Tsuki puffed her cheeks out at Kana. “I’m upset you didn’t tell me.”  
“That’s my fault.” Levi stated. “I told her not to.”  
Her cheeks puffed more. “I wanna be mad!” She huffed. “But I can’t be. I’m happy for you. And it’s about time you guys decided to tell us. So how long have you guys been together?”  
Kana and Levi exchanged a look. Kana cleared her throat. “That’s uh… hard to answer actually.”  
“What why?” Tsuki asked.  
Demi pointed a finger. “Also your fault.”  
Tsuki gaped. “What!?”  
Kana scratched her cheek. “Well, you see…” Kana tried to explain the situation to the best of her ability, but even as she spoke, it felt more confusion by the minute. Tsuki and Leah both gave her questioning looks which only confirmed that it was too complicated to dwell on.  
Demi laughed, “It summary, Tsuki made everything way more complicated than it needed to be.”  
Tsuki dropped her head down to her arms and whined. “I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry!”  
Jean scolded Demi. “Drop it, Demi, she feels really bad.”  
Demi continued to snicker but she leaned back in her chair. “Alright, I guess I’ll be good.”  
Eren mussed her hair. “Do whatever you want, don’t let the horseface stop you.”  
Jean cursed, “Dammit Eren! Stop picking fights!”  
“You’re too sensitive!” Eren shouted back, both of them immediately diving back into another fight.  
Tsuki jumped a bit. “Oh hey.” She reached down into her bag that was sitting at the feet of her chair. “I know the best way to finish off our evening. Look what I found.” She pulled out a deck of cards. “I hadn’t been back in so long, I forgot I had them.”  
Leah raised her arms. “Yeah! Let’s play!”  
Connie grumbled. “Oh man. If we’re going to be here a while longer, I’m gonna tell the barista to get us more drinks.”  
Sasha groaned. “I’m gonna order food.” She got up and trotted after Connie.  
The rest of the evening was filled with laughs and jokes. Some tears were shed, but mostly only from when a couple people would start rough housing or arguing. Demi was typically the cause of the crying. The baristas made sure to keep their drinks full the entire night and they turned a blind eye any time they got too loud or rowdy. The cards were dealt over and over and by the nights’ end, they were all worn out and exhausted. But they were all smiling.  
When Kana and Levi got back home, she sighed heavily. “They’re so exhausting.” She tugged her boots off and tossed them by the door.  
Levi cocked a brow. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself rather well for saying they’re exhausting.”  
Kana smiled back at him. “Did I?” She started to wiggle her coat off, but he reached out and took it off her shoulders for her before putting it up in the closet. She sighed. “You’re not wrong. I really did enjoy myself. It’s just hard to have evenings like those…they just make me think about what could happen at any time.”  
Levi glared at her and put his hand on her head, mussing her hair. “Hey. It’s important to be prepared, but… life would be really shitty if you didn’t let yourself have moments like those.”  
She watched as he walked by, starting to undo the cravat around his neck. Her gaze drifted to the rest of the house. It was the first time they’d been back in a really long time and so much had changed. It had been just after she found out her siblings were gone and now… she was going to be having a kid of her own.  
“I suppose I didn’t ask you.” Levi stated suddenly. “Are you happy about it?”  
Kana looked at him in confusion.  
“Having a kid?” He asked.  
Kana’s gaze softened. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking out a little…but…I’m really happy about it…at least…I’m happy it’s with you.”  
He blinked and then looked away. He assured, “We’ll do our best. Together.”  
Kana’s smile only spread more. “I’m not worried about that. I’m not worried about us.” She reached out and gently took his hand, pulling him back to her. “The kiddo is going to be loved unconditionally without a doubt. I just wish…there was more we could do about this shitty world they’re going to be born into. I wish I knew it would be safe for them.”  
Levi looked into her eyes and promised, “We’ll work a hundred times harder. We’ll get there.”  
She smiled and slid her hands up to his cheeks, pulling him in and kissing him slowly. He closed his eyes and kissed her back, slowly and gently, over and over. Her arms slowly reached up and wrapped around his neck, pulling her in closer as she continued to kiss him. After a while she pulled back, her crimson eyes smoldering with love. “It also wasn’t that long ago that was I was trying to come up with any excuse to convince my Captain to stay here with me. Now it’s all so easy…and I have you all to myself.”  
Levi smirked. “You didn’t know it then, but I was all yours from the start.”  
Kana smiled as well. “I know that now…” Her hand slid down to his chest and she looked at the ring on her finger. She felt her heart swell with pride and love before she started undoing the buttons of his shirt. “The same is true for me, you know? I’d been so in love with you for so long…and I just didn’t want to say it… I was afraid to. I didn’t know… I just wish there had been a way for me to. But now…being with you…it keeps me going. Your love and your life…they’re everything to me…”  
Levi wrapped his arms around her and gently lifted her up at the same time he leaned in for another kiss. He held it as he carried her to the bedroom and gently lay her down. He climbed over the top of her and his gaze was so full of emotion that she felt her heart stop in her chest. “I love you, Kana. I swear I will protect you and our future family. I’ll do anything within my power for you…” He leaned down and kissed her neck lovingly down to the top of her shirt. In the same swift movement, he pulled it off and tossed it to the side. Soon his shirt followed. Her hands traveled along his torso, feeling his strong, handsome muscles as they rippled under her touch.  
She would tip her head and kiss along his skin, planting kisses anywhere she could reach as he guided her body along. He buried his head against her neck and growled softly, “Forgive me, Kana…I can’t wait another moment…I’ve…waited six years…”  
Kana hushed him by tipping his head up and kissing him passionately. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and he eagerly accepted, his hands sliding down and gently tugging down her pants. As soon as hers were off, she flipped him over and gently pushed him down. Her crimson hair spilled down around him and her both as she kissed him over and over. “Rivi… you don’t have apologize… or give me an excuse. I want you all the time…” She sat up off him enough that she could tug down his pants as well while he continued to eagerly kiss her.  
His arms came back up around her, rolling her back over once again. For what felt like much too short of time, they were wrapped up in each other, tangled in the sheets. He kissed all over her body, not leaving an inch of her untouched.  
His lips lingered on her stomach, and he kissed it over and over as he rubbed his hands up and down her thighs. “I love you, Kana…”  
She cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb along it. “I love you, too. So much…” Her gaze was warm as she watched him. “You make me so happy, Rivi.”  
Levi looked up without pulling his lips away. His silvery eyes trembled before he lowered his head back to her skin. “Same here, Kana…”  
He climbed back up her body, wrapping himself around her and together they made love for hours into the night. He never took his hands off of her, never unwinding his arms from around her. Even after drifting to sleep, he didn’t release his grasp on her.  
Well after the sun rose, Kana’s eyes opened again but she felt the warm of this body still around her. His hand rested on hers, their fingers laced together and his breath against her neck. Her crimson eyes filled with love once again. This was it. This moment was everything she wanted, everything the looked forward to. She rolled over in his arms and curled her body into his. Without even waking up, he tucked her in closer and kissed the top of her head.  
This morning, they would sleep in.


	133. The Path Forward

“I don’t know…” Jean stated, crossing his arms. He, Eren, and Armin were all leaning against a fence, watching Historia run around chasing kids. “She’s not quite the queen I expected her to be. She’s been wearing the crown for two months now, but she seems more at home running an orphanage than ruling.”  
Historia captured the two runs she was chasing after and pulled them back by their hoods.  
Armin stated, “It’s the military that’s really ruling the walls so there’s no way of hiding the fact that the monarchy is just for show. But do you know what they call Historia now? The cattle-farming goddess. They mean it nicely of course.”  
“Naturally.” Jean grumbled. “The hero who vanquished an attacking titan turns out to be this modest and admirable?” He looked over at Eren and teased, “At this rate, no one is even going to remember who plugged the hole in Trost.”  
Eren didn’t respond to his jest. He stated, “One of the reasons Historia made the decision to become Queen was to do this. She looked everywhere, from the underground to the very corner of the walls, she gathered the orphans and the people in need and brought them to this farm and started taking care of them. She’s using the royal family’s budget and the assets seized from politicians to run this place and help the poor. Even the Captain is backing her up. He is from the underground after all. They were concerned about backlash from the aristocracy at first, but all their resistance did was further strengthen her support among the people. I don’t think she’d thought it out quite this far… but she said she was going to find people in trouble, no matter where they were and go save them. This is what Historia wanted to do.”  
Historia glared over at them. “Hey you guys are slacking again!”  
Jean grumbled, “Ack. She found us.” He waved his hands. “Can’t we take a break?”  
Historia picked up another box of supplies. “After we carry all of this. The sun’s about to set!”  
They all grabbed supplies and started marching again. Jean commented, “She’s starting to remind me of my mom.”  
Historia asked, “So I hear the hardening experiments are going well?”  
Eren nodded. “Yeah. I’m able to block a cave now. But we’re not ready for the mission yet. If we don’t hurry, they’ll come again…”  
Historia looked down. “What do you want to do? What’s goingto happen if you ever meet Reiner and Bertholt again?”  
“I have to kill them.” Eren stated.  
“Do you want to?” She questioned.  
“I… have to.” He answered.  
“I hope we figure it out soon.” She insisted. “Why this world turned out like this. I can’t regret turning down the first king’s power. The children from the underground have started to smile recently. What we’re doing here can’t be wrong.”

While the boys were helping Historia, the girls were gathered inside. Demi had her arm locked around Kana’s neck, holding her in place, despite her struggling.   
Tsuki and Leah were knelt down, looking at Kana’s belly. Tsuki laughed. “No denying it now. You’re definitely pregnant.”  
Leah giggled and poked her belly. “Look at that little tiny bump!”  
Demi grumbled. “I dunno. I think it could be that she just had too many slices of bread. It looks more like she’s just put on a few pounds.”  
Kana kept trying to kick her leg up to hit Demi. “Get… off…of me…!”  
Demi laughed and released her friend. As soon as she was free, Kana yanked her shirt back down and hid her belly behind her arms. “You assholes!”  
They laughed. Tsuki waved her hands. “Sorry, but we just wanted to see the cute little baby bump! You’re three months and barely showing.”  
Kana’s cheeks were red. “Sh-shut up you pricks. Leave me alonnneeee…”  
They wrapped their arms around her and all giggled. Tsuki hugged her best friend and purred, “Lighten up. We’re just really happy for you. We’re all gonna be aunts!”  
Kana rolled her eyes and pushed her friend a few inches away. “Yeah I know. I can’t give birth to the kiddo if you guys smother me though!”

A new, narrow wall was created just outside the main wall outside Rose. It was just barely wide enough that a titan could lean in, but there were cross beams that kept them from being able to get too far in. A member of the Survey Corps was standing behind the cross wires and once the titan was in close enough, another member dropped the weapon and the massive heavy pillar went hurtling down, landing on the nape of the titan and it immediately collapsed.  
A group of them were watching to see how the experiment went. Hanji cheered, “We did it! We hit the nape!”  
The titan began to steam.  
Hanji screamed, “Yes! We downed a 12 meter with no casualties!”  
Eren let out a sigh and dropped to his knees. “Great…”  
Demi gasped and immediately knelt down to him as blood started pouring out of his nose.  
Hanji carried on ranting out of joy, “It worked just as planned! Now e can defeat titans without soldiers even having to fight them! We can run these all day without having ot use cannons or other resources! We’ve create dan executioner from hell whose sole purpose is to slaughter titans! Newspapermen! More good news for humanity! Spread the world! Let them know!” When they started scribbling on their notepads, Hanji turned to the others. “We did it, Eren! Now we’ll make more of thse and bring them to the other walled cities to – “  
Demi handed Eren a clothe for him to wipe his nose with. Demi’s emerald eyes turned up to Hanji and she growled, “We have to slow down on these. His body can’t take it. You have to stop pushing him so hard…!”  
Eren gently squeezed her shoulder. “It’s fine, Demi…” He looked at the others. “I’m just tired. We have this amazing weapon now… so we need to keep making more. The thought of being able to kill titans without anyone having to be eaten…now e just have to close the hole in Wall Maria. And keep using these to get rid of titans. Then we’ll be able to clean out titans from inside Wall Maria.”  
Demi’s eyes trembled. “Eren…”

Demi squeezed Eren’s hand went he went to follow after some of the other soldiers. “Wait, stop please.”  
Eren looked at her with worry. “Demi, what’s wrong?” His gaze softened. He could almost sense her fear and worry inside of him. He squeezed her shoulders softly.  
“You have to slow down.” Demi told him. “We don’t know enough about your powers to vindicate you using them so excessively like this. For all we know – “  
Eren brought her in and touched his head to hers and told her, “I know you’re worried… but I have to do this… for humanity… for us to survive. A little risk to myself… it…it’s worth it. If all of humanity can survive.”  
Demi looked down. “I’m not willing to pay that price, though…”

“I see… a titan guillotine?”  
Several of the branch leaders and Darius Zackley were sitting around at a table, discussing the current situation and structure of the military. Zackley continued, “Excellent job, Survey Corps. The retaking of Wall Maria is starting to look realistic. How goes the nighttime pathmaking in Zhinganshina District?”  
“Sir.” Erwin stated. He looked over at Kana who was also sitting at the table. She had her arms crossed, minding her own business until she realized she was being asked questions.   
Kana straightened up. “The Slayers have made a path more than halfway through.”  
Zackley arched a brow. “We’re using the Slayers for this?”  
Erwin glanced at Kana and then looked back up at him. “As you know sir, we’ve been using the discovery of the shining ore in that underground cavern to light our way at night. The purpose of this was to create a path in the night, limiting the number of soldiers we were sending out. The goal is to reduce the cost of life or risk to life as long as possible. It was determined that the Slayers were most suited to a task of minimal capacity. Kana has been orchestrating our Slayer unit the last several weeks.”  
“Good work then.” Zackley stated.  
Erwin continued, “The day we execute the plan to reclaim wall Maria is now in sight. As the practical introduction of those new weapons. Within the month I believe that all our preparations will be complete.”  
Another commander commented, “Earlier than expected. But failure is not an option. After all, keeping the aristocrats we’ved taxed so heavily under control and securing the Survey Corps’ special funding… all that is predicated on retaking that lost territory. If we fail, we’ll go bankrupt.”  
Kana crossed her arms. If they failed, finances would be the least of everyones concerns.  
This other commander continued, “Captain? Do you have any advice?”  
Levi shook his head. “No. I don’t. I think you’re absolutely right.”  
Erwin cut in. “We have bled both inside and outside the walls, all in order to retake Wall Maria. As for the Survey Corps, we intend to devote our full strength to repay our lost fellow soldiers for giving their lives.”  
Zackley agreed, “Indeed. It is past time you were rewarded for your efforts. I pray that the treasure you seek sleeps int hat cellar in Zhinganshina.”

They stood and stepped away from the table. Erwin looked at Kana and smiled, “How have you been doing, Kana? Well I hope?”  
Kana nodded. “Yeah I’m doing fine. Most of the sickness has stopped. Finally.”  
Hanji draped her arms acrossed Kana’s shoulders. “Our little Slayer here is working twice as hard as everyone else here.”  
Kana rolled her eyes.  
Levi scolded Hanji, “She’s working harder than anyone else so you shouldn’t be using her as an armrest, four-eyes.”  
Hanji laughed and straightened up. “Sorry.”  
They started walking to their next meeting. Kana commented, “Just cause I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m fragile. I am still a Slayer.”  
Levi argued. “Still a Slayer, but still pregnant.”  
Hanji whistled playfully. “I see mommy and daddy don’t quite see eye to eye about this.”  
Kana laughed. “He’s just overprotective.”  
Levi rolled his eyes. “I don’t think there’s any _over_ about it. If you haven’t met yourself, you’re reckless. I think I’m justified.”  
Erwin glanced at Kana. “I do agree that you should be careful.” He pushed the door open. “We’ll need all of our Slayers in top condition for the coming battle.”  
Levi cast a sideways glare at Erwin, but said nothing as they walked into the small room. Zackley and Pixis were already in there.  
Hanji pulled the syringe case out of her jacket and placed it on the small table in the room. Pixis asked, “So, does it look like you’ll be able to discover what is in that bottle?”  
Hanji sighed, “Well, about that… this is all we can find out with the technology we currently possess. As we heard from Eren and Historia, it seems to contain ingredients based on human spinal fluid. There seems to be more as well, but as soon as the liquid touches air, it evaporates, making analysis difficult.” Hanji looked up at them. “This stuff is far beyond our capabilities after all. Just how did the Reiss family create it…?”  
The room fell silent.  
Kana glanced up. “What about our village?”  
They looked at her expectantly. So she carried on, “There’s better technology wherever the hell it is that we Slayers came from. We know that.”  
Erwin paused. “Yes. They had technology capable of even cloning people. Surely they’d have the capacity to examine this fluid. But we have no idea where that is. And the only person who does disappeared after you came back.”  
Kana sighed. “I know. But… it’s a shot. If we see her again, we’ll ask.”  
Pixis nodded. “Then rather than stumble around in the dark, we may as well use it for it’s intended purpose.”  
“Who should we entrust it to?” Zackley asked. “You, Erwin?”  
“No.” Erwin rejected. “I’m a wounded soldier. This box should be entrusted to our most talented soldier with the highest chance of survival.” He turned to look at Levi. “Will you take it?”  
Levi casually asked him, “If that’s my mission just give me the order. Why would you bother asking me?”  
Erwin looked up. “We can’t predict how this will be used in the field. In other words, you’ll be entrusted with this in part because of your ability to make an on-the-ground decision. You’ll be the one to decide who should use it depending on the situation. Can I trust you with that?”  
Levi lingered before answering the question and asked, “What happens…if this dream of yours comes true?”  
Erwin paused as well. “Well, I don’t know. And I won’t until it does.”  
“I see.” Levi stated. “Alright. Understood.” He picked the case back up and tucked it into his jacket.  
Zackley commented, “I’d like the chance to unveil my work. Have you given it any thought?”  
Pixis grumbled. “You’re still talking about that? Just try to show the people that ghoulish thing. Their trust in the military will drop to unprecedented lows.”  
Zackley cursed. “You boors know nothing of art.”


	134. Before the Fight

“We can beat them! We can beat them!”  
Kana rolled her eyes as she listened to Marlowe shouting for the hundredth time. They were all sitting around one of the tables eating dinner as he ranted. “Those spears can cut through the titans like they’re made of paper!”  
Jean smirked. “Your seal of approval doesn’t mean much when you’ve never even fought a titan before, you know.”  
Marlowe didn’t back down. “Yes, I’m new to the Survey Corps. But I’ve ever see everyone so excited – not even at graduation! It goes to show how much people expect fromt his new weapon.”  
Kana frowned, “Marlowe. In case you hadn’t noticed, the only ones excited are the transfers. The ones like you with no pratical experience. There aren’t hardly even any leftovers.”  
One of the other 104th squad members came up. “Hey now, is that anyway to talk about us? You think we’re Garrison left overs?”  
Tsuki glared at him. “Why did you decide to join the Survey Corps now, of all times?”  
The guy laughed. “Because the survey corps was short-handed so it was soliciting applications. Not only that, they did it by saying things like ‘retaking of Wall Maria is before our eyes! Now is the time to rebuild society! Gather soldiers!’ We can’t be the only ones… all of society is feeling the same way.” He stepped back. “But I will say. All of you look different. The look in your eyes, I guess? What happened?”  
“Do you want to know?” Jean asked.  
In the next moment, Kana was on her feet, having kicked the guys out from under him, flipped him and pinned him down, her hand on his neck and his arm twisted up in the air. He let out a cry and Kana calmly stated, “Welcome to the Survey Corps. In a split second a titan or a person can end your life. Unprovoked. Every second is a tick against your own biological clock. If you blink, you’re dead.”  
Tsuki sipped her drink. “ _That’s_ what happened to us.”  
Kana let up and stood and the guy jumped back up and started to scurry off. Jean laughed and waved his drink. “Make you tell your friends you were pinned by the pregnant soldier! That’s a story to brag about.”  
Marlowe huffed and looked down. “I guess I’m no different. I only joined because the timing seemed right. I was acting excited, just like them.”  
Sasha asked, “Didn’t Hitch try to stop you?”  
“Hitch?” He questioned. “Why would she?”  
Demi snickered. “Oh, you know, cause she’s a thirsty girl and you’re a tall glass of water.”  
Connie and Sasha snickered.  
Marlowe replied, “I don’t understand what you mean, but Hitch did berate me. She said things like it’s not for you or stop trying to act cool you weakling. She kept saying that since we were recognized for our service during the coup, we could live the easy life if we just stayed in the Military Police. It’s too bad. My opinion of Hitch was just starting to improve. I had to tell her that I misjudged her.”  
Jean dropped his head into his hand. “Piece of shit…”  
Armin sighed. “Are you stupid, Marlowe?”  
Eren looked in confusion. “What? Marlowe didn’t do anything wrong…”  
Demi reached around Eren and pulled him into her and patted his head. “Oh my sweet little Eren… you’re so innocent and in denial…”  
Connie stood up. “I should probably head out.”  
Sasha looked at him. “Why? Tomorrow’s an adjustment day. You should take it easy.”  
Connie answered, “Yeah that’s why I was thinking of going back to my village tomorrow morning. I might be able to learn something new, too.”  
Kana leaned to Tsuki. “Speaking of being in denial…”  
Tsuki giggled back at her friend. “You think so too, huh?”  
After Connie left, Sasha asked, “There might be a way to turn Connie’s mom back to normal, right? The possibly still exists?”  
Armin nodded. “If we keep learning more about the titans then yes… one day maybe…”

A couple weeks passed.  
In a meeting room sat all of the leaders of the Survey Corps.  
Erwin announced, “Based on the memories that Eren saw from that night, his father, Grisha Yeager may very well be a human from outside the walls. We took Eren and spoke to someone who knew his father – apparently it was 12th Commander Shadis who found Grisha.”  
Hanji nodded. “Yes. And he had the power of the titas, just like Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt. But unlike those three, he wanted to help those inside the walls. If he was so interested in the Survey Corps, it would’ve been nice if he’d helped us out a bit more. Considering everything else he knew, it’s possible Dr. Yeager even knew the truth about the ideology passed down in the Reiss family. Perhaps he chose not to share that to keep the Royal government from fiding out about him. But the moment that Wall Maria was breached, he went straight to the Reiss family, the true leaders of the royal government and commited that act of madness. After getting behid the walls, he was probably investigating the royal government. In any case, he would hav eneeded an incredible amount of resolve to do what he did. And it was this man who wanted to show his ten-year-old son, who hoped to join the Survey Corps, the room in the basement of their house. A room that, with his dying breath, he said held everything. What do you think could be in there?” Hanji asked.  
“Something he was forbidden to say.” Erwin suggested. “No. Something that he could’t say, even if he’d wanted to. In other words, the memories of the world that the first King Reiss erased from our minds. That’s what I’d like to think…but sitting here, speculating, there’s no way for us to know.” He looked up. “As of today, we are ready. The operation to retake Wall Maria will take place two days from now. We want to know what’s in that basement? Let’s go see. Isn’t that the way of the Survey Corps?”  
They all smirked and stood up.  
Erwin explained, “I’ll leave the teams to all of you.”  
One of the other officers asked, “Could we at least have some red meat today? We’ve got to show those kids from time to time that they can depend on us.”  
Another of them asked, “What about about commander Shadis? He withheld vital information.”  
Hanji growled, “Leave him be. He’s not worth what little time we have.”  
Another officer joked, “I’m surprised, Hanji. You used to have such a crush on him.”  
“Shut your stupid mouth.” She snapped.  
Levi touched Kana’s back as they headed out and ordered, “You go on. I’ll catch up in a minute.”  
Kana nodded. “Okay.” She was curious, but decided it wasn’t her business and shut the door behind her, leaving Levi in the room with Erwin.

Erwin looked up at the captain. “What is it, Levi?”  
“This may sound impatient, but what are we going to do after retaking Wall Maria? I assume that coming up with a defense plan will be first, but… after that?”  
“Eliminating threats.” Erwin stated. “There seems to be someone out on the other side of the walls who’s determined to see us eaten by titans. Our best shot of finding out who seems to be in that basement. So, as I said before, let’s think about that after we get to that basement.”  
Levi glared at him. “I assume then that we’re risking the lives of the entire Survey Corps, right? No exceptions? You, with one arm, and my pregnant fiancé will both be there, then?”  
Erwin nodded his head. “Yes. We can’t pull any punches this time. We all need to be there. Kana has proven herself to be just like you, an asset for making on the ground decisions. And I have to be there to ensure the operation goes according to plan. I know the risks I’m asking for, but this will be the most important operation in humanity’s history. We have to commit. Without me or Kana, it’s less likely to succeed.”  
Levi looked away. “That’s right. It is less likely to succeed. But if either of you die… that’s an even greater risk to Humanity.”  
Erwin shook his head. “We only have one shot at this. I’m not backing down, Levi.”  
Levi narrowed his eyes at him and reached his hand out. “Then what if I break both of your legs? I’ll make them easy to put back together later, but I’ll break them bad enough to make sure you can’t go. It’ll really suck for you going to the bathroom for a while.”  
Erwin laughed. “As appealing as that sounds, it wouldn’t do. I know that it’s better for wounded soldiers to stay off the front lies, but we’ve made it as far as we have because of who is in our arsenal.” He looked straight back at him. “Of course if you break my legs, I can’t stop you. But you know just as well as I do that the future of humanity is at stake here. You know how much less likely we are to win if we’re not there. This is the decision I knew you’d have to make back then. So which is it, Levi? Sacrifice humanity in exchange for our lives? Or take the risk?”  
Levi stared down at the ground. He was silent for several minutes. He knew what choice he wanted to make. But in the end, he knew that he couldn’t risk the lives of all that remained of humanity. He had to give them their best chance. “Fine. I’ll trust your judgement, Erwin.”  
The door slammed behind him.

“Tonight may be a special night, but you ca’t let the civilians know that. You’re soldiers. This isn’t a party, it’s a chance to recharge.”  
Despite the words that one of the leaders were speaking, all of the soldiers wer staring at the tables. There was meat on all of the tables.  
Sasha’s eyes were wide. “I… can’t believe it.”  
One of the leaders chuckled and raised a mug. “Here’s to recapturing Wall Maria. Cheers!” Before he could even finish, all of the soldiers were at each others throats, fighting over the food on the table. They were arguing over every inch of the meal.  
“Calm down, we need to split it evenly!”  
“That’s a big piece! It counts as two!”  
“No way!”  
“You suck with a sword! You’ll be useless out there! Gimme yours!”  
“What!?”  
Sasha had immediately put her face down into the entire slab of meat and was trying to devour it whole. Connie wrapped his arm around her neck, trying to yank her back and Jean snarled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing, potato girl!? Have you gone totally crazy!?”  
Connie begged, “Please Sasha, stop. I don’t want to have to kill you!”  
Jean shouted, “No one could eat this much meat!” He went to yank the slab out of her mouth but her teeth landed on his hand now. “That’s me! You’re eating me now!”  
Connie shouted, “Sasha! That piece of meat is Jean! Can’t you tell the difference!?”  
Marlowe asked, “so you didn’t even have meat in the Survey Corps? How sad.” He had just finished speaking when Sasha swung a fist out and landed right in his face.  
Tsuki giggled and cut her piece in half on her plate. “These guys never stop… they’re so cute.” She put the half she cut off over on Kana’s plate. “Here you go.”  
Kana glared at her. “What are you doing?”  
Tsuki wiggled her fork. “You need to eat extra so that my niece grows up big and healthy.”  
Kana crossed her eyes. “Will all of you stop making such a big deal?”  
Leah gasped at her. “It _is_ a big deal!”  
Kana sighed. “I don’t need extra food though…”  
Tsuki glared at her and then looked at Demi.  
Demi grinned devilishly. She reached over and grabbed Kana around the neck and plugged her nose. “Open up little Slayer!”  
Kana had to open her mouth to breathe and when she did, Tsuki took a huge piece of the meat and shoved it in her mouth. Tsuki ordered, “Get all you can in there!” The filled her mouth as much as they could and have Kana still able to chew. Her face was red but she chewed until she swallowed it down. “I hate you guys.”  
They all laughed.  
Connie and the others finally got Sasha knocked out and they tied her up to a pole.  
At the leader table, they talked, “Hey looks like we have casualties.”  
Hanji laughed. “Whose bright idea was it to give them meat again?”  
The other leader chuckled, “I’m sorry, I souldn’t have spent two months worth of our food budget on tonight.”  
Eren sighed. “She seems okay now.”  
Connie chuckled. “She finally tired herself out…hard to believe she was even thinking of splitting that meat with us.”  
“When?” Eren asked.  
Connie answered, “Three months ago when we were servicinn the cannons.”  
Eren looked down. “It’s only been three months…?”  
“Yeah. And in only three months, we made it into squad Levi. How’s that for climbing the ladder?”  
Eren smirked at him. He put his hand on Connie’s head. “It’s cause you’re a genius.”  
“Of course!”  
Jean went back to scolding Marlowe. “Like I said, you’re a rookie. You should be in the rear guard.”  
Marlowe argued. “Yes, I’m less skilled but that doesn’t that make me perfect to scount the enemy on the front line?”  
Jean grumbled, “Are you trying to lecture a veteran about self-sacrifice, tough guy?”  
Demi choked on her food and started laughing. “Veteran!?”  
Tsuki giggled. “That’s a little high and mighty, isn’t it, Jean?”  
Marlowe asked, “How could we function as a unit without that mentality?”  
Jean lectured, “Listen, we all start out as recruits. How are we supposed to train them if the first thing we do is use them as cannon fodder? So your teams’ job is to watch and learn from the rear and make it back alive.” He laned back and laughed. “It’s ok. The really useless ones are the suicidal maniacs who charge straight into the enemy!”  
Eren immediately glared back at Jean. “And who do you mean by that?”  
Jean grinned. “I see on suicidal blockhead here. Who else could it be?”  
Eren growled back, “Well I found out the other day that I’m actually a pretty normal person. So if you see me that way, it makes you a real coward, Jean.”  
Both of them jumped up and started arguing.  
“You think you’re so cool, you braying jackass?”  
“Well what’s with your long hair you deluded bastard!?”  
Soon they started punching and beating up on each other.  
Leah groaned and rolled her eyes. “They’re at it again…!”  
Demi rocked her fists up and down, “Get him Eren! Kill him! Beat him to a pulp!”  
Tsuki, however, was waving her hands and asking, “Hey guys, come on… let’s not fight tonight…! You’ll risk injuring yourselves before tomorrow.”  
“You’re gonna rip my shirt!”  
“Bastard!”  
Within a few minutes, majority of the soldiers were surrounding them, cheering them on.  
One of the leaders exchanged, “Whoa a fight…”  
“Didn’t I tell them to stay calm?”  
Jean huffed when Eren grabbed his collar. “How many tiems would you have died if you didn’t have those titan powers? And how many times have we had to save your worthless ass? If you keep acting suicidal, _I’m_ going to kill you!” He punched him again.  
Eren continued punching back. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind!”  
“And you be nicer to your mom, Jeannnniiiieeeeee!”  
“Forget about that!”  
The fight continued, despite Tsuki trying to talk them down, but with everyone else cheering them on, she could hardly be heard.  
“Hey.”  
A minute later, Levi stepped into between them, kicking Eren in the stomach and then punching Jean and flipping him onto his back. “All of you are being too rowdy. Go to bed.”  
Jean hit the ground and then rolled over and threw up again. Levi added, “And clean that up.”  
Tsuki whined and rushed over, “Jean? Are you okay?”  
Leah laughed. “Thanks Captain! They were getting really annoying.”

After the big dinner was over, Eren Mikasa, and Armin found themselves outside on the steps of the building next door. Leah and Demi were with them, but mostly just listening to the three talk about old times.  
Armin chuckled, “I’m just glad to see you have your energy back.”  
“Energetic or not…” Eren told him, “I plan on doing what needs to be done.” Eren finished. “But yeah, I feel better. I was caught up in pointless worrying. Things like… why I wasn’t as strong as Mikasa… or the Slayers. I was jealous. I felt useless because I couldn’t be like you guys. But none of that matters. None of you guys can fight alone.” He glanced over at Demi. “When Demi and I bonded… I finally understood that we’re not fighting alone. We’re all together in this.”  
Demi smirked. “That’s kind of the purpose of Slayers. We give our power to others. We give humans a way to fight.”  
Eren nodded. “We each have our own roles. We eed to find them. Great power comes from joining ourselves together. We’re each different from each other because of times like this.”  
Armin looked down. “Yeah, that would make sense.”  
Mikasa asked, “When we retake Wall Maria and defeat all our enemies… can we go back? To those days?”

Kana had just left the dining hall once Tsuki had finished shoving food down her throat and was looking for Levi. She came to a stop when she saw him standing alone against a wall. She walked up to him and realized that Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Demi, and Leah were on the other side. She could hear them talking from where they stood.  
“We’ll bring those days back. Still some things are gone forever. They’ll have to pay for that.” Eren grinned at Demi and Leah. “And we’ve made more friends along the way, too?”  
Armin smiled as well. “Yeah, and that’s not all.” He looked up. “The sea, remember? A giant lake filled with so much saltwater the merchants could never collect it all. The titans aren’t the only things outside the walls. Burnig water. Land made of ice. Snow plains of sand. I joied the Survey Corps so I could see all that.”  
Eren looked down. “I know you did.”  
Armin jumped up. “So let’s start by goig to the sea! Saltwater that stretches all the way to the horizon! There are even species of fish that you can oly find there! You still don’t believe me, do you? I swear it’s there! Just you wait!”  
Eren laughed. “Oh fine. Then I guess I’ll just have to see it for myself.”  
“That’s a promise, okay?” Armin shouted. “No taking it back!”  
Kana looked down at Levi when he slid down the wall and sighed. She knelt down next to him and sat beside him. She wrapped her arms around his and scooted up against his side. He didn’t pull away, but he seemed distant. She softly asked, “Brings back memories…huh?”  
“Yeah.” He said simply.  
Kana rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “We’re so close. If we’re successful tomorrow… then we can get some answers… maybe the answers we need to eliminating the titans for good.”  
Levi sighed and glanced at her. “You sound hopeful.”  
“Yeah. So what?” Kana stated in a half joking manner. “Maybe I’m still as eager as them.” Her hand went to her stomach. “I want to make this a safer world. I want to go on that picnic. The one we promised Isabel.”  
Levi turned and kissed the top of her head. “You need to be careful tomorrow. I know you hate it, but you need to let the other Slayers do the fighting and hard work. I know you’ll want to jump in but…without a weapon… and… even if you did…”  
Kana looked up at him and kissed his cheek softly. “I know, Rivi. Remember. I told you that I will always come back. That’s still true.”  
He turned his head, bringing their foreheads together. She finished with, “Then…when we come back… we can get married.”  
He gave her a warm smile. “That sounds like a good plan. As always, I trust your word, Kana.”


	135. Class 1 Weapon

The sun was setting. It was time.  
The horses were on top of the wall, as well as the entirety of the Survey Corps. Because the sun was so low to the ground, it was shining bright across all of them. As more horses were being brought up, it was becoming louder and louder at the base of the wall.  
Kana walked over to the edge and looked down, her eyes widening.  
Crowds of citizens were gathering at the base of the wall. Where it used to be lines of people glaring and mocking them for going outside the walls, they were now cheering and shouting for their success.  
One of the citizens at the bottom was Flegel – the son of Dimo who was killed by Kenny just a couple months ago.  
“Take back Wall Mariaaa!!!”  
“The future of mankind is in your haaaannndddsss!!!  
“Captain Levi!!”  
“Hanjiii!!!”  
“Thank you for saving this town!”  
“Please, all of you come back safely!”  
“Get us back our land, too!”  
Levi huffed. “Well, they blew it.”  
Hanji commented, “Someone was bound to figure it out after all that noise.”  
Another leader commented, “Actually I ordered the meat from Reeves company…dammit Flegel.”  
Suddenly a ton of the soldiers started cheering back, getting really excited over the whole event.  
Kana scoffed when even Tsuki and Leah were joining in. “You guys…”  
Erwin asked, “How long as it been since the Survey Corps had a send off like this?”  
Levi shrugged. “Who knows? Has it ever?”  
Erwin shook his head. “As far as I know, it’s a first.”  
A slow grin started to spread on Erwin’s face and in the next moment, he threw his fist up and started to cheer back as well. He drew his sword and ordered, “Commence the final operation! To retake Wall Maria!”  
A massive blast went up beside all of them and wind blew out in all directions.  
Immediately, all the soldiers grabbed their swords and drew them, ready to attack whatever appeared in the smoke. As soon as the smoke cleared, a woman stood with a dark gray hoodie. She pulled it down and her crimson eyes shimmered.  
The cheering at the base of the wall stopped.  
Hanji and Levi both immediately shouted, “Lower your weapons!”  
Kana stared in shock at the woman who stood admist all the soldiers. She looked much older – like the last six years had taken a serious toll on her. Her hair was graying and there was a single line of blood down the side of her face. But her crimson eyes were full of hope.  
Erwin looked at Hanji and Levi. “Who is this?”  
Levi answered, “This is the woman we told you about. The one with the answers – Meria. Kana’s mother.”  
Kana breathed. “Mom?”  
Meria trembled for a moment and took a sigle step forward. “Kana. It’s been so long.”  
Kana walked forward, between the other soldiers. “It didn’t have to be. That was your decision.”  
Meria lifted her poncho up and wiped the blood off her face. “I know. I don’t expect you to forgive me. You don’t have to. But I’m here now.”  
“Why?” Kana challenged.  
Tsuki touched Kana’s arm. “She has answers that can help us. We should be more – “  
“Having answers doesn’t change the sins of what she’s done.” Kana snarled. “Now answer me. Why are you here?”  
Meria looked down for several minutes and then back up. “Because you need a weapon.”  
Kana’s eyes widened and then narrowed angrily.   
Meria asked, “Mizuki’s dead right? And Mijore’s found you. You need a weapon and I’m the best there is.”  
“No!” Kana argued. “I’ll never use you a weapon.”  
Meria’s eyes widened.  
“It would be the same as forgiving you for abandoning me! I don’t care what reason you had. You saved us from Mijore and that’s great, but then you ran away. Using you as my weapon would be the same as forgiving you for being a coward!”  
Meria stared at her and then slowly looked away. “Kana…it’s not forgiveness or redemption I’m looking for. That’s not what this is.” She glared at her daughter. “Don’t be so narrow minded and childish. This fight you’re going into is going to be a big one and you can’t afford not to be at your strongest.”  
“Don’t you dare talk down to me!” Kana shouted. “Don’t fucking show up here and start acting like you can call me your daughter! You lost that right fifteen years ago!”  
“Then just pretend it’s not me!” Meria argued. “Pretend I’m any one else! But you need a weapon and you can’t argue that!”  
Kana gnashed her teeth in rage.  
“Kana.” Erwin interjected. “You need a weapon for this fight.”  
Kana went quiet for several moments, glaring at Meria.  
Meria stated, “I’m the only Class 1 weapon there is. If you used me…then there isn’t an enemy alive that could stop us. You’re the only one that can use me. Kana, please, I’ll beg if I have – “  
“Fine.” Kana snarled. “You win. I’ll use you. But can we even connect? When I hate you so damn much?”  
Meria looked down and shook her head. “Normally, no. But…I have hope that…since we share the same blood, we can still connect, even if our mentalities are so different.”  
Kana reached into her back pocket and pulled out a knife. She flipped the blade out.  
Meria added, “You have to bind with a human first. My energy can’t be handled without a human.”  
Kana’s eyes narrowed more and she placed the blade against her palm and cut it open. She closed the blade and threw the knife back behind her.  
Levi caught it casually as he walked forward. He cut his hand as well and when he stood next to Kana, he asked, “Are you sure about this?”  
Kana took the knife back and stated, “I don’t like it. But… we have a higher chance of survival in doing this. Right now. That’s all that matters. I’ll deal with symantics later.” She held her bloodied hand out. “Sorry I have to drag you into it with me.”  
He took her hand with his own and both of them winced when a sensation ran through them. He told her, “You’re not dragging me anywhere. We stand together. We agreed to that.”  
Kana nodded her head and released his hand and walked towards her mother.  
Meria held her hand out. Kana took it in hers and glared at her mother. “Just remember this is _not_ forgiveness.”  
“I will never mistake it for that.” Meria confirmed.  
Kana stabbed the knife through their hands at the same time and in that moment, energy exploded around them. The energy wrapped around Kana and solidified as armor plates along the outside of her arms, over her torso, along the outside of her legs. The armor turned red with black accents. Blades formed from the armor at her elbows, thighs, along the bottom of her feet. Lastly, a red helmet formed on her head, but it was only half of one. Another blade reached out of the half the helmet. Each of the blades were black, accenting the red armor.  
Once the armor was fully formed, the weight of the energy caused the wall to crack under Kana’s feet and the power radiated around her.  
Just like with the others, red lies similar to what adorned Kana where the armor touched her body, red lines formed over the left side of Levi’s face.  
The soldiers closest all put their arms up over their faces to block the wind that had kicked up. Erwin gritted his teeth. “So powerful.”  
Tsuki’s eyes were glistening with admiration as she looked at the Slayer and Weapon. “Wow…! That armor is so pretty!”  
“Guys…” Connie muttered. “This is crazy. Think of how super strong she’s going to be. I mean… she said she’s a Class 1 weapon right? That’s even stronger than Tsuki and Amaak and they can time travel.”  
Jean added. “And they bonded with our strongest soldier – Captain Levi.”  
“Gonna say this… I feel kinda bad for enemies…” Leah stated.  
“This is… huge…” Jean confirmed.  
Erwin’s eyes narrowed with determination. “Our chances of success… Just got a hell of a lot higher.”  
Levi walked up to Kana who was staring at her hands. He had heard his squad talking about the bonding process and how indescribable it was, but now he could feel it. He could feal her thoughts and worries, everything racing through her head. As well as the betrayal she felt from her mother, yet the determination she had to ensure this fight was a success. He could feel it. That she would throw away any convinction she had to ensure the end of this battle was a success.  
She turned and looked at him as he walked up. She assured, “Don’t worry. I won’t be any more reckless than I was already allowed to not be.”  
Levi nodded his head and he glanced over at the commander. “He’s going to want to use you to fight. I know I can’t stop you. All I ask is that you be safe and survive.”  
“Of course. That’s the plan. _You’re_ the one I’m worried about.” Kana stated.  
Levi gave her a sincere look. “Well, now we can keep an eye on each other.”

The area within Wall Maria represented one third of the land humanity had left. When the territory was lost five years ago, the loss of human life and proprerty was massive. And, as those who remained inside the two walls quickly realized, those losses were only the beginning. It seemed wrong for us to continue living. Whether humanity could survive another day was out of human hands. Everything was no up to the titans. Because humanity had no way of defeating them. But heroes appeared. A boy who turned into a titan. And weapons in the form of humans. Together, they’ve changed this world they live in. Some were filled with pride. Some were filled with hope. Others filled with rage. But they all screamed.  
Now… if Wall Maria is taken back, what scream will fill humanity’s hearts? Can they ever believe again that there is a place for them in this world? Can they ever be made to believe that they control their own destinies?  
If these soldiers can retake Wall Maria?

All of the soldiers were walking through the forest, under the cover of night, with the lights created from the shining ore underground to guide their way. They led the horses along.  
One of the soldiers slid down the hill a bit, causing the horse to slid into another. Both jumped away and whinnied. The other soldier scolded, “Hey! Keep the light on your feet.”  
Levi grumbled, “Are we still not to the foot of this thing? It’s almost dawn.”  
Another soldier answered, “If we can get past this mountain, we’ll be close to Zhinganshina.”  
Eren was the only soldier not walking was Eren. Demi was leading his horse along.  
Eren frowned, “Am I really not allowed to walk on my own?”  
Demi looked up at him. “Exactly. You need to rest. This entire plan depends on you being able to plug up that hole. We can’t risk you using your energy for any other reason.” She turned away and looked at the horses next to her. “Besides. Taking care of your horse keeps my mind off the annoyance beside us.”  
Eren and the others all made a face. “Yeah… kinda defeats the purpose of moving silently…”  
Meria fanned her hands. “Kana quit being so stubborn. You need know about how to use my power.”  
Kana rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about a single word that comes out of your mouth.”  
“You are such a child! This is no time to be throwing a tantrum.”  
“Call me a child one more time and I’ll remove you from my life permanently!” Kana snarled. “Don’t you dare be condescending to me.”  
“I wouldn’t have to be if you would listen to me! Is being a brat to me really worth not knowing how to use my power?”  
Kana snapped back, “I sync with your mind when we join so I know everything I need to when we fight! There’s no reason I should even be having to talk to right now!”  
“You are so infuriating, you know that! You are stubborn and thick-headed and tempermental and just like – “ Meria came to a stop and looked away. “Dammit.”  
Kana glared hatefully at her. “You wanna finish that sentence?”  
“You are just like your damn father.” Meria snapped.  
“Yeah I wouldn’t know anything about that, would I? Since someone left me to die here!”  
Erwin sighed and glanced down at Levi. “Can you do anything about getting them to quiet down? At this point, the enemy will hear us miles away.”  
Levi grumbled, “You think it’s annoying? Trying hearing it echoing in your head at the same time. _Both_ of them.”

For hours they carried on until they reached the foot of the mountain. Once they did and they left the forest, they climbed back up on their horses and raced towards Zhinganshina.

It was time for the operation to start.


	136. Wall Maria

“Begin the operation!” Erwin shouted. “All troops switch to vertical maneuvering!”  
At the command, all of the soldiers began jumping off their horses and reeling themselves up to the top of the wall. They all pulled the ponchos of their hoods up as they had been previously commanded. This was to keep them from being immediately identified. The goal was to give Eren as much time as possible to seal the hole with his hardening.  
When Eren landed on the top of the wall, he stopped and looked out over his home town that was abandoned, broken, collecting grass and weeds all over it. His eyes trembled.  
Levi jumped up behind him and kicked him forward. “Don’t stop! Get to the outer gate.”  
After his brief hesitation he finally heared on around the wall. “Yessir!”  
Demi stayed close at Eren’s side. She wasn’t going to let him out of her sight for a moment. Because he’s who they would be coming after.  
The other soldiers were all rushing around the walls in all directions.  
Armin came to a stop when he saw ashes that were smeared across the top of the wall. Armin raised his arm to alert the commander. The titans they feared the most were somewhere close by.  
Eren looked around. It was so nostalgic to be back here. He could see things he recognized. He could almost identify where his home was.  
Hanji was looking aroud. “There isn’t a single titan in the area…!”  
Levi agreed. “Something is definitely strange. We’ve most likely fallen right into the enemy’s hands. But…”  
“We have to press on.” Hanji agreed.  
Eren finally flipped over the opposite side, on the opposite wall. Once he was in the air, he bit into his hand as he ricocheted down towards the hole in the outside wall. It took only a second for his titan to form and to harden, blocking the hole in the wall. The second he did, Demi formed Sarthis in her hands and cut Eren out and brought him back to the top of the wall. Her green eyes were wide. “You did it…”  
Hanji demanded, “Any enemies?!”  
“None!”  
“Keep your eyes open!” Hanji ordered. She looked over. “It worked…! The hole is sealed!” The small group of them hurried over to Eren. Hanji questioned, “You okay?”  
Eren nodded his head. “We can keep going, just like practiced!”  
Hanji jumped off the top of the wall. “Then we’re heading to the inner gate! Keep your aces hidden so you’re not attacked as you move!”  
Kana glared down over the edge of the wall. What was their plan? Why weren’t they attacking?  
Eren asked, “Was it really that easy?”  
“No.” Levi argued. “As long as they’re alive, they’ll keep breaking through that wall. Understand? Until we kill all of our enemies, including Reiner and Bertolt, the plan to retake Wall Maria isn’t over.”  
Eren narrowed his eyes. “Of course I know that.”  
Kana glanced back when she noticed that Tsuki slowed to a stop. “Tsuki?”  
Tsuki looked down. “We have to kill Reiner. I just… I knew but I… didn’t…”  
Kana squeezed Tsuki’s shoulders. “I know it’s hard Tsuki. I won’t try to sugarcoat it. But. If we don’t kill Reiner…” She looked over her shoulder, seeing that Jean had stopped and was looking at them. “…they won’t hesitate to kill Jean. Neither option sounds noble. Neither option will make you feel better. But weigh those options and determine which one you can live with.”  
“I know.” Tsuki stated. “I just… don’t want to…”  
Kana turned away from Tsuki. “You don’t have to think about the killing blow. When it comes down to it, I’ll deliver it to spare you.”  
Meria frowned, watching as Kana marched on.  
“They’re not attacking.” Erwin stated.  
“Are they afraid of our numbers?” A soldier asked.  
Armin rushed up. “I have a report! I found a full set of camping equipment scattered on the ground. They seemed to be drinkig something that resembled tea. The pot had gone cold. But there were cups left behind with traces of the black liquid from inside the pot. There were at least three. It seems there were more than two people on top of the wall.”  
Erwin asked, “Was it an iron pot that had gone cold?”  
“Yes.” Armin answered.  
Erwin commented, “That’s odd… we made full use of our horses and vertical maneuvering to arrive here at top speed. They should have had two minutes at most between the time they first heard or saw us and when we arrived. There’s no way a freshly-used pot would have cooled off in just two minutes. Our enemies somehow knew that we were approaching at least five minutes in advance. Which means they had plenty of time to prepare for us.”  
Armin’s eyes widened. “So… we should assume they had scouts… or that there are even more enemies lying in wait?”  
Erwin stated, “We’ll make locating enemies our top priority. Arlert. Your mind has saved us from dire straits time and time agai. We need your abilities more than ever. Take as many men as you need and search the area around the inner gate for enemies.”  
Erwin motioned for some of the soldiers to come over to them. As soon as they approached them, they started spouting their reports. Armins eyes widened and he looked totally overwhelmed.  
Leah put her hand on his back. “Armin… you can do this. I know you can.”  
Armin swallowed his fear and ordered, “Split into two groups to search the buildings around the inner gate, both outside and inside the district. If you find anything, report by acoustic shell.” He paused. “P-please…?”  
They all hurried off, shouting, “Yes sir!”  
One of the leaders asked Erwin, “Another gamble?”  
Erwin shook his head. “Armin is a sure thing. He is one of our greatest weapons.”  
He replied, “Eren’s team is approaching. What do we do? Do we put the operation on hold until we find our enemies?”  
Erwin ordered, “We continue. We can’t stay long here in enemy territory. We’re unlikely to win a drawn-out encounter. Our only option is to fight a quick and decisive battle. And if that’s all part of our enemies’ plan, then for now we’ll just have to play along with it. Of course, they’re not the only ones hiding something.”  
Armin and Leah lowered themselves down the wall.  
Leah asked him, “I see your brain working. What’s going through it?”  
Armin rambled, “The commander won’t stop the operation. Even if we end up giving our enemy the perfect opening, our oly option will be to meet them and strike back. The more time we give them, the worse our position gets. They always attack us in ways we could never imagine… using what seems like impossible tactics. We’re always at a disadvantage. Because… we know so little about titans…” He looked up at the wall. “We’re always…”  
Armin’s eyes widened. Leah grinned, knowing that he was onto it. “I knew you’d figure something out.” She followed him back up the wall.  
All of the soldiers came running back to Armin. “Arlert! Did you find them? Where are the enemies?”  
“Not yet.” Armin argued. “Everyone search the wall. They’re inside the wall!”  
Erwin’s eyes widened.  
Several soldiers protested.  
“Inside the wall?”  
Armin explained, “Yes! There must be a space inside it where humas can stay for an extended period of time.”  
“How do you know that?”  
“It’s a hunch.”  
“Do you have any idea what kind of situation we’re in right now!?  
“We don’t have time to – “  
Armin insisted, “But our enemies…!”  
Leah pushed the soldiers back off of him. “Guys stop and listen to him!”  
Armin explained, “They’ve always used their titan powers in the most improbable ways to gain an advantage on us! If we let ourselves be constrained by regular common sense, we’ll never be able to gaint he upper hand on them!”  
Erwin fired a signal flare.  
In response, Hanji shouted, “Everyone, spread out on top of the wall and wait for further orders!”  
Erwin scolded the soldiers. “There are times to be rigid and times to be flexible. Follow the priciples you’ve learned as soldiers as you give everything you have to the mission. Observe the chain of command. We’re here to win.”  
With Erwin’s confirmation, Armin ordered again, “Split into two groups again and search the surface of the wall! Begin checking everything from the top of the gate, down.”  
Meria asked, “What are they doing?”  
Kana watched as all the soldiers started reeling down the walls, checking the walls. “Not sure.”  
Eren asked out loud. “Armin… did he realize something again?”  
Armin was shaking as he and the other soldiers hunted down the walls. Leah looked around as well. They had to find them…! They had to win here…!

A flare went up.

The soldier shouted, “Here! There’s a hollow spot here!”  
They all turned to look. The wall below the soldier moved and in it’s a place, a blade shot out, slicing right through his torso like he was butter.  
Reiner moved out of the wall, tossing the piece of the wall away.  
Everyone began to move. Armin turned as Reiner set his sights on him.  
Leah reached her hand out, the purple lines appearing on her skin and across part of Armin’s face. A shield appeared right in front of Armin and Reiner’s sword bounced off of it and it sent him back just a bit.  
Reiner hadn’t even gotten his footing again when a blade went right through his neck. Levi had launched down the wall and stabbed his blade right through his neck, looking to cut it clean off.  
Tsuki’s eyes widened. So many emotions tore through her. She knew what they had to do here, but it was still hard for her to accept it. When the blade went through Reiner’s neck though, she, for a moment, envisioned him doing the same thing to Jean. And then she remembered everyone else that had much worse things done to them because he barreled down the walls. She swallowed hard. Killing him here was the only way to save everyone. To save all the lives within these walls.  
Tsuki’s gaze drifted up to Kana who was looking right at her. Her heart jumped. She could see the concern in her eyes. Her best friend who was worrying about her, even in a battle as tense as this. Her gaze drifted to Kana’s stomach. It was impossible to see the little bump through her hoodie at that moment but they all knew a life was growing in there. And if Reiner had his way, that life would never see the light of day. And the world they were supposed to grow into, would be destroyed.  
She gritted her teeth and shouted, “C’mon, Captain! Kill him before he can transform!”  
Kana smirked, seeing the determination now in Tsuki’s eyes. She looked back down at Levi and Reiner and saw as his second blade stabbed right through his chest. He ejected the blades and slammed his heel into Reiner’s stomach and shoved himself free, shooting back up the wall as Reiner dropped to the ground.  
Armin shouted, “Captain!”  
“Dammit!” Levi cursed. “I was so close…but I couldn’t end his life.”  
Armin asked, “Is that another of his titan powers!?”  
Reiner’s body hit the ground and began to glow brightly and it’s place, his titan form appeared.  
Kana narrowed her eyes. She looked at Meria. “Time to go. Reiner’s in for a rude awakening.”  
Tsuki’s wings appeared from her back. Jean looked at her quickly, the blue lines covering half his face as he stated, “Be careful Tsuki…!”  
Tsuki insisted, “We are not the same as we were back then! We’re so much stronger!”  
Erwin threw his hand out. “Check all around us! Capture any other enemies and - “  
Several more explosions all went off behind them. Inside the wall they had crossed through to get here.  
Leah looked back to see that there was an entire wall of titans blocking their way back. They were in a perfect arch shape around Zhinganshina. Right at the center of them was the all too familiar beast titan. It reached back and picked up a massive boulder. And sent it flying towards them.  
It had to be the size of a house.  
Erwin shouted, “Incoming! Take cover!”  
Meria ripped her head to the side. “Kana!”  
Kana looked back at her she reached her hand out. “Let’s go then!”   
Meria turned into light and wrapped around Kana in the armor from before, but the blades weren’t on it. Instead there were two rings in front of her hand.  
When Levi sensed them connect, he looked over at them. “Kana!”  
Kana ordered, “Tsuki! Slow it down!”  
Tsuki pointed her scepter forward and the air around the boulder hurtling at them vibrated and it suddenly started flying slower.  
Kana narrowed her eyes and concentrated her energy into her hand and in the next moment, a massive blast erupted out of the rings and soared across the sky and slammed into the boulder, blowing it up in midair.  
Wind kicked up all around them and most soldiers covered their faces.  
Kana’s eyes widened.  
Demi let out a breath. “Holy…So this is… a class 1 weapon?”  
Meria shouted into Kana’s mind. “This is _our_ power!”


	137. Raining Thunder

Another boulder came flying at them before Kana could recharge. She cursed. “You’re so fucking slow.”  
Meria snarled, “This is the first time you used me! You’re the one who doesn’t know how to control my power well enough yet!”  
Kana growled. “My control has nothing to do with _your_ power!” She looked over. “Tsuki! Keep slowing them down!”  
Tsuki spread her wings and took to the air. She hovered above Kana and warped the area around the boulder, forcing it to slow down. While she was focusing on that one, though, another one went flying by. She cursed, “Look out!”  
Kana changed her target to the boulder flying faster and blew it up as well. But because of that, Tsuki couldn’t keep holding the first boulder and it broke free of the timewarp and flew straight down into the gate that had previously been broken by the armored titan.  
One of the soldiers asked, “Was it a miss?”  
Erwin cursed. “No. It was good aim. It blocked our entrance. Now our horses can’t pass through. Take our horses away… then surround us. They’re planning to wipe us out here by cutting off our escape route. We’re both getting battle we’ve been hoping for. Let’s put an end to this here. Humanity or those damned titans! One of us will survive… and the other will die.”

“Erwin.” Levi warned. “He’s going to come up here.”  
They looked back to see the Armored Titan was creating nails made of the hardened armor skin.  
Kana looked back at the armored titan as he jumped up towards the wall. She shouted, “Demi!”  
Erwin ordered, “Troops, avoid engaging the armored titan! Don’t get near it! Leave it to the Slayers!”  
“Yes sir!” They shouted back. At the same moment, Demi went flying through the air and dug her scythe into Reiners hands and ripped the fingers off. He dropped back down to the ground. Demi caught herself on the wall. “What’s the plan!?”  
Erwin exclaimed. “That quadrupedal titan is intelligent, too. There must be even more of them out there…”  
Armin looked over at it. “It’s carrying cargo…?”  
Erwin narrowed his eyes. “The enemy is even more formidable than we imagined.”  
The beast titan raised it’s great arm and slammed it on the ground, letting out and earth rumbling roar. When it did, all of the smaller titans that were in front of the wall of larger titans, went rushing forward, towards them.  
Armin shouted, “Multiple two-to-three meter class titans approaching!”  
Erwin scowled, “It’ll be just like the raid at Utgard castle. They’ll go for our horses, first. Their primary goal is to capture, Eren. But to do that, they’ll first take away our escape options. There’s no way for us to return home from here in titan territory without horses. If they can kill our horses, they can cut our supply lines simply by blocking our retreat. Then they’d just have to wait a week or at most a month for us all to waste away. In that way, they could pluck Eren from his deathbed without even having to fight. Given that, the large titans are doing just what I’d expect – standing in a rank. They’re clearly acting as a cage to trap us here.”  
The armored titan was getting back to his feet.   
Demi growled, “Hey Commander Statue! He’s getting up again!”  
Armin cursed. “We also don’t know where Bertolt is…”  
“I know.” Erwin stated. He took a deep breath and sighed.  
Levi glared at him. “Are you finally ready to talk? Or should I get breakfast after all?”  
Erwin commanded, “Squad Dirk and Squad Marlene! Go join Squad Klaus at the inner gate! Guard our horses with your lives! Squad Levi and Squad Hanji, assist the Slayers with the armored titan! At squad leaders discretion, use the thunder spears! Carry out your objective by any means necessary! This moment! This battle! Humanity’s continued survival depends on it! So once more, for humanity’s sake! Dedicate your hearts!”  
When the others started taking off, Erwin raised his hand. “Levi, Armin, wait. I know I gave orders to your squad, but you’re staying here.”  
Levi stopped and looked back at him. “You want me to protect the horses, not Eren?”  
“That’s right.” Erwin stated. “Wait for an opening to kill that thing. The Slayers need to remain with the armored titan until the Collosal shows itself. That leaves only you to destroy that beast titan.”  
Levi glared ahead. “Understood. I’ll make up for failing to kill that armored brat earlier by taking that beasts’ head off it’s body.”  
Erwin turned to Armin. “You will be in charge of the plan for dealing with the Armored and Collosal titans.”  
Armin hesitated before nodding. “Alright, yes sir.”

Kana looked over when Armin rushed up to them. She stated, “I already heard the plan.” Her gaze went to Demi who was spinning around Reiner, keeping him distracted from getting closer to the wall. “She’s not going to like it.”  
Armin nodded and looked at Eren. “We’re going to use you as bait. Their goal is clear – they want to kill the horses so we can’t escape. We have to keep them from doing that.”  
Tsuki nodded. “Okay, so Eren will act as a lure and we take out Reiner? What about when Bert shows up?”  
Armin answered, “We’ll divide up. We know the Collosal has the ability to emit heat that will prevent us from getting too close. Kana and Tsuki have the long range attacks for that. They’ll go after him and Demi and Leah will stay on the Armored Titan.”  
Demi gasped when she was kicked and sent flying into the wall. She coughed and felt blood bubble up from a couple broke ribs. She cursed and peeled herself off just in time to see the Armored titan jump up onto the wall above her. “Shit!” Sarthis formed as two blades in her hand and she threw them, each one embedding into his feet so he was left dangling there, clutching with his hands. Demi shouted, “Hey, I could use some – “  
A red streak flew across her vision and she saw blood erupt from Reiner’s wrists. Kana came to a stop above Demi, the blades now back on her armor. “You good?”  
“About time you lazy asses got in gear! What’s the plan?” Demi demanded.  
“You won’t like it.” Kana told her.  
Eren took on his titan form in the middle of the district, the left side of his face covered in the green lines. He let out a cry and Reiner dropped back down to the ground.  
Demi glared up at Kana. “Using him as bait again?”  
“It’s our best shot.” Kana insisted.  
Tsuki landed on a rooftop near Eren and as Reiner came running at them, she shouted his name. The armored titan came to a stop, his head turning completely to her. Though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell that he was hesitating. It was as though he remembered what he’d done. She clenched her hands into fists. “I’ll never forgive you!”  
In the same moment, Kana and Demi came flying up behind him, attempting to slice out his neck but he hardened just in time for them to fail. They both jumped off, opposite ways.  
Jean cursed as he and the others flew around from the opposite direction. “Where’s Bert?”  
Armin stated, “We can’t give this battle our entire focus until we know where our last enemy is!”  
Kana landed back on a roof and snarled when Reiner and Eren started engaging in a fist fight.  
“Going right for the nape is useless.” Levi scolded inside her head. “We learned that with the Female titan. It’s predictable and they know that’s where you’ll go. The only way to deal with these shitty intelligent pieces of shit is to tear them apart piece by piece.”  
“Yeah the only problem with that is getting a good target.” Kana stated, watching the Armor’s movements. “We’re not as fast as you.”  
“Maybe not.” He argued. “But you have someone who can slow that bastard down. Don’t get reckless.”  
“Yeah. I know.” Kana stated. “We can’t use another energy blast here without hitting Eren as well.”  
Demi looked over at her. “Go for his feet?” She looked up. “You hear that, Eren? Give us an opening.”  
Titan Eren wrapped his arms around Armor when he came in close and tried to pile drive him into the ground. When he did, the Armor kicked his legs up in a desperate attempt to try and get away.   
Kana, Demi, and Tsuki all charged.  
As Kana reeled herself in towards the titans, her gaze went to the blades on her elbows. The angle of them was almost perfect for…  
She immediately thought about the move style Levi used to take out the female titan.  
Meria shouted in her head – able to read her thoughts. “Then let him take over!”  
Kana shouted, “Levi!”

Levi landed where he was on the rooftop, looking at the smaller titans that were filling the town and the Corps members that were frantically running away with horses, trying to protect their way out. Levi clicked his tongue. “Let’s make quick work of this bastard.” The lines that were covering half of his face spread and covered the entire thing.

As Kana flew in close to the Armors leg, she suddenly went into a full spin and circled around the leg, slicing the entire thing up as she went then on up his spine and up from his back. She spun into the air and looked down at her handy work.  
Tsuki whistled, “Kana, where’d you learn that!?”  
“Didn’t.” Kana argued. “That was Levi.”  
Tsuki blinked. “Huh?”  
Demi explained, “Remember? Meria told us when she was training you. The humans are designed to be able to use us as weapons. They can impose their will on the Slayer and Weapon.” Demi spun Sarthis around until he turned into a broadsword and stabbed it through Reiner’s ankle. She shouted, “Two legs down!”  
Tsuki looked back, “Go for it, guys!”  
Kana landed on the roof and looked down at Demi. “Good job!”  
“You too!” She shouted back.

“Incoming!”  
All of the soldiers looked up as another boulder was coming flying at them. This time though, it hit a field of purple light and exploded without hitting anything.  
Levi looked down from where he was to see Leah was standing there. He narrowed his eyes. She would be an asset to help with the Armor and Collosal titans, but who knew how many lives she was saving with every boulder she blocked.   
He told her, “Good work Leah. How long can you keep this up?”  
Leah flinched. “I can keep it up as long as I have to. Armin and Djovaak and supporting me. I won’t let them down.”  
Levi pointed his sword forward. “To stop this, I need a path to that furry mother fucker. Can you get me there?”  
Leah looked across the horizon and shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t think my fields can go that far and shield you at the same time.  
Levi gritted his teeth. “Dammit. We need him to come to us then.”

In response to Tsuki’s shout, the rest of the members of Squad Hanji and Squad Levi all descended from the rooftops they were on. But on their arms were their new weapons – the thunderspears. Just as their name suggested they were long metal spears but they were filled with gunpowder and on release would explode as Hanji described – like a bolt of lightning. This was their ace in the hole for taking down the Armor titan.  
Every member had the spears on their arms and triggered them all at the same time. When they detonated, a massive explosion knocked the Armor titan forward, but it blew the armor clean off the back of his neck.  
Kana smirked. “A direct hit.”  
Levi shouted in her head, “Do not let your guard down!”  
“Yessir.” Kana retorted.  
Before the Armor could even get his bearings, the next wave of thunderspears rained down on his bare nape and blasted it clean off.  
When the smoke cleared, what was left of Reiner’s body stuck out from the nape. Majority of him was there, but the top of his head was blasted clean off.  
Connie shouted, “We did it! We sent his head flying! We took down the Armored Titan!”  
Kana narrowed her eyes. Levi’s voice in her head confirmed her suspicion. “I wouldn’t be certain of that. A sword through his heart and neck didn’t do it…I don’t know how… but I don’t know that he’s certainly dead.”  
“Me either.” Kana agreed.  
Jean panted. “We did it. You were a pain to deal with, but look at you now, you evil bastard…” He glanced over at the others to see that they were crying. Jean gritted his teeth. His gaze turned on to Tsuki who was just staring absently. He touched her shoulder. “Tsuki… are you okay?”  
Tsuki nodded. “Yes. I am. I just wish…he didn’t choose to be an enemy. I wish… he would have chosen to help us…”  
Hanji ordered, “This battle isn’t over! You need to prepare your equipment for when the Collosal shows up!”  
Mikasa stopped next to Armin and asked, “Are you…?”  
Armin recited, “There was no room… for negotiation. After all… we’re the ones with the overwhelming lack of knowledge. We don’t have the power to capture and restrain a human that can transform into a titan. And if we can’t do that… then this is our only option. This was… unavoidable…”  
Leah shouted in Armin’s head, “You did’t do anything wrong, Armin! Remember what the Captain taught us! We made the decisions we have to in order to protect our team! Maybe our hands are dirty but as long as we get them dirty, we’ll survive! We can all come out of this alive by not taking chances. Please don’t doubt yourself!”  
Armin looked down. “I know, Leah… but…”

Leah’s eyes widened when a sudden overwhelming pain in her stomach came over her. It was so bad that her skin turned pale and she dropped to her knees. She coughed and hunched over, every breath getting harder. Why was it coming back? Tsuki’s abilities had pretty much put her power on the fritz until now.  
She looked up in time to see a boulder coming flying towards her. She tried to raise her hand but she was too slow. It slammed into her full force and slammed half of her body into the building behind her.  
Levi’s eyes widened when he saw the last rock wasn’t stopped by a shield. He flew over and his eyes widened to see what remained of Leah’s corpse against the building. “Shit.”

Armin suddenly started screaming in pain. Mikasa dropped down beside him. “Armin! Talk to me! What’s wrong?” But the blonde haired boy couldn’t form words around the shrieking and agony he was feeling. It lasted only a few more seconds before he passed out completely. Mikasa caught him but her eyes were trembling. “What… happened?”  
Tsuki knelt down on his other side. “Look. The lines are gone. Leah but have been killed…” Tsuki felt the words catch in her throat. She looked up at the wall. What was happening on the other side of that thing?  
Demi looked over when Kana flew over to the Armored Titan. She called, “What are you doing?”  
Kana answered, “Making sure he’s actually dead.” She raised her arm with the blade and went to cut his neck. Her eyes narrowed, remembering that a blade that punctured right through didn’t kill him. What would?  
Her eyes widened when the massive titan below her shifted. It’s jaw dropped open and it suddenly let out an earth-shattering cry. They all covered their ears but when they did, it reached it’s hand up and wrapped around Kana. She gasped and held her arms out, the blades digging into his palm so he wasn’t able to squeeze. She gritted her teeth, trying to gain a foot on the iniside of his hand so she could free herself. Before she could, it yanked it’s arm back and threw her through the air and across the district.


	138. King's Orders

__  
“Mommy, look what I found!” Kana, four years old, rushed up to her mother. A mother who, without the age that turned her hair gray and lined her face with wrinkles, looked beautiful and glowing in the evening sun.  
She held up a flower. A crimson and black flower.  
Meria was sitting on a swaying bench next to a man who looked very different from Kana, but had the same expression of hope and determination. His black hair glistened in the evening sun and his black eyes were filled to the brim with emotion.  
Meria reached down and took the flower, “Kana? Where did you find this?”  
Kana pointed away from their house. “Out there!”  
Meria turned to the man and smiled, “Look, Hem, surely this is luck. Our daughter found a Silrause…!”  
Hem chuckled. “I think it sounds more like she’s been playing where she isn’t supposed to be.” 

_**”That’s…my father?”** _

_“Mommy, mommy, you’re home!” Kana rushed up to her mother and father who had just returned._  
Meria eagerly picked her up, a big smile on her face. “That’s right. Sorry we were gone so long.” She looked up as Kana’s babysitter stepped around the corner.  
Corrin smiled at them as he put his hand on his hip. “She seems to get along really well with Tsukiko. I can see them being lifetime friends.”  
Meria smiled at him. “Thank you for coming over and watching her so short notice. When the king gives Hem orders though… nothing we can do.”  
Hem looked away. “Yeah… things have been… busy…”  
Meria frowned and looked back to Corrin. “How’s your wife? Is she still sick?”  
Corrin looked down, his eyes glazed over as he looked back at Tsuki. “Yes. She is. She hasn’t been able to get out of bed since giving birth. This was a risk we both knew we were taking. Neither of us regret it, but…I…am still sad. I worry I push my fears and worries onto Tsuki. It’s clear now that a human shouldn’t have given birth to a Slayer… so… will something happen to her, considering she’s only half Slayer?”  
Meria’s gaze was warm. “Have faith Corrin. Your daughter is strong. I’m sure she’ll live. 

_**”Tsuki is half human? Are these… my memories? Surely I was too young for these to be mine. Then… are they… moms?”** _

_“Tiana?” Meria paused in the doorway of her home when the other Slayer tried to step in. “What are you doing here?”_  
Tiana tried to look around her. “I heard a rumor about your beautiful daughter. I wanted to see if it was true.”  
Meria slammed her hand on the wall. “You are not coming in this house you sadistic wench. I’ve seen what you do to your own daughter.” 

_Meria shook her head while Hem held her, trying to help her calm down. He insisted, “Meria, calm down. You didn’t do anything wrong.”_  
Meria glared up at him. “What do you mean I didn’t do anything wrong!? None of this was ever supposed to be possible!” She gripped her shirt. “I’m supposed to be a tool! An unfeeling, unemotional, empty shell of a tool!”  
He cupped her face. “But you’re not. Everything you’re saying you shouldn’t be exactly what I love you for! Meria, we didn’t make a mistake.”  
Meria buried her head in her hands and sat back away from her husband. “There’s so few human-shape weapons… so few… like me… that have feelings and emotions. Beyond just that… beyond feeling anything… I wasn’t supposed to be able to reproduce. Weapons should be born or conceive! So why…? Why was I able to? I’ve condemned her to something so awful…”  
“But she’s strong… just like her mother. We’ll fight through this. We will survive this. If nothing else, just hold on a little longer. Then…I’ll find somewhere we can go… we’ll run away and hide from the rest of the world.” 

_**”So… I was never supposed to be born…?”** _

_Hem scooped Kana up and lifted her up into his arms, swinging her around as he laughed. “You are getting bigger and bigger by the day little missy!” He set her on the counter and asked, “How much longer do you think your ol’ man can even pick you up?”_  
Kana waved her arms up. “You’re super strong, daddy! You can do anything!”  
Hem laughed. “Yeah, except win an argument with your mother. I swear. Promise me you won’t give the man of your future as hard a time as she does me.” He chuckled and then mussed her hair. “But… if you turn out anything like your mother… that’s what makes you so cute.” He sighed. “What are we doing for lunch?”  
Kana asked, “Daddy, where’d mommy go?”  
Hem grumbled, “She went out with her friends. She won’t be back until dinner. So it’s just you and me today, squirt.”  
“Can we play games!” Kana asked excitedly.  
“Oh yeah. A whole lotta them.” He chuckled. “After we feed you.” 

_Meria’s eyes were wide as she screamed, “Stop! Let go of me!” She was bound in chains and in the back of what looked similar to a wagon. She kicked and struggled, “Why are you doing this!?”_  
A man hovered over her. “Don’t worry. This isn’t for you. We just need you unconscious for a few minutes…”  
Meria let out another scream, “No! What are you going to do!? Don’t you dare go near my family!” A clothe covered her mouth and in the next moment, her eyes rolled back and she went limp.  
He stated, “Sorry Meria. King’s orders.” 

_Hem made a face when there was a knock on the door. His eyes narrowed and he picked Kana up by the armpits and set her on the ground. “Go to your room.” He ordered._  
Kana asked, “Why?”  
“Just go.” He growled. He hesitated and looked around. There were no weapons in the house. Why would he need one? His wife was a weapon. Before he could do anything else, the front door of their home was kicked in and splinters went flying everywhere.  
Tiana and a few men stood in the doorway. She had a wicked grin on her lips. “Give me the runt, Hem. Do it and no one has to die. Not you. Not your wife.”  
Hem pulled Kana behind him. “Where is she?”  
“Busy.” Tiana stated, walking in. “Give me the girl.”  
“I won’t let you lay a hand on her. Not until I’m dead.” Hem growled.  
Tiana shrugged. “I thought you’d say that.” She held her hand out and Sarthis shot off her arm and went to wrap around Hem but he jumped back, scooping up Kana and running to another room. He set her down and held his hands out. When he did, his entire body glowed a deep gray color and an orb formed around Kana. He hurriedly spoke, “Kana, listen to me. These people want to hurt you. I can only cover you with my slayer energy for a little while…As soon as you can, run away from here…find your mother. Don’t let these people – “  
The men came rushing in.  
Kana screamed, “Daddy!”  
They grabbed him and yanked him away. Weapons formed in their hands, hammers, swords, things of the like and together they started beating him. Kana’s eyes widened as blood splattered around the room – over the woman, the men, the walls, and the small shield that protected her.  
As Tiana walked up to her, Kana shirked away but she couldn’t go anywhere. Tiana leaned forward and grinned. “You really are kind fo cute…Can’t believe you are actually the key of destruction that you are. This is your fault you know…? The king wants an army of you. And I promised to give him just that…”  
A moment later, the Slayer energy protecting her disappeared and Tiana scooped Kana up. “He could have just handed you over. The outcome would have been the same.” She laughed. “Though…I lied about sparing him. We can’t have our greatest Weapon Slayer combo coming to rescue you, now can we? Without a Slayer to use her, your mother is effectively uselsss. An annoying speedbump if you will…”  
She turned away. “Let’s go boys. We got what we came for.” 

_**”Why…?”**   
_

Levi felt a surge of panic when the Armor’s hand wrapped around Kana and then threw her across the district. He felt a horrendous pain through his side and head and it brought him to his knees for a moment. In the next though, all of these bizarre memories had filled his head. He wasn’t sure if it was what Kana was thinking or Meria, but it did all it needed. It confirmed they were still alive. He just hoped her condition was okay.  
He straightened up but there wasn’t a moment of rest he could take. In response to the Armor’s scream, the Beast titan had thrown a barrel over them and into the district. Levi’s eyes widened. If that’s what he thought it was, then this fight was about to get even worse.

Hanji ordered, “Hit it with the thunder spears! Blow Reiner’s entire body apart!”  
Tsuki was shaking, trying to process everything. She needed to see if Kana was okay. But she needed to help end Reiner. Why did he scream? Why did –   
She looked up.  
A barrel was flying above them. “No…”

Erwin looked back, seeing that the barrel had been thrown right where the others were. His eyes widened as well. “They got us…”

The barrel suddenly formed with light and they all knew that it was going to explode with the Collosal titan. Tsuki squeezed her hands together above her head and a time warp formed around it and froze the barrel in place. Her arms shook and she screamed, “Someone do something! I don’t know how long I can hold him!”  
Mikasa shouted, “Armin’s unconscious!”  
Hanji looked at Tsuki. “He’s too high in the air! None of us can reach up there. You’d be the only one with your wings!”  
Tsuki panted. “So we can’t… stop this?”  
Jean’s teeth were gnashing. There had to be something. “What the hell do we do? The second Tsuki releases that thing, we’re done for…”

__  
Kana sighed from where she sat, next to the pot of energy that was overflowing. Her head was against the cast iron.  
Meria rubbed her arm. “I knew I risked you seeing that by letting you use me…I’m sorry.”  
Kana sighed louder. She stood up to her feet. “Will you stop? Stop apologizing, stop blubbering… stop being an all around piece of shit.”  
Meria glared at her. “I did not teach you that language.”  
Kana scoffed. “No. You didn’t. When you get to meet the people I spend my time with, you’ll learn quickly where I got it from.”  
Meria stared at the back of her head. “Kana. I could see all of your memories, too, you know. I’ve missed your entire life because of my mistakes. Now you’re…you’re engaged and going to have a child of your own…”  
“That’s right.” Kana turned around and looked at her seriously. “In other words, I grew up fine, without your help. Your issues didn’t ruin my life. In fact, I quite like it. I’m never going to forgive you for leaving me behind. Whatever else I learn about my shitty childhood. But it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. I’m alive. I’m fighting. So stop being down on yourself and trying to protect me. Coddling you is the least of my concerns right now.”  
Meria blinked and then her gaze softened. “Your child is fine. You are still a Slayer. Your body is powerful and durable. Avoid taking any major hits to the stomach, but your body will protect that child from just about anything.”  
Kana sighed, again. “That’s a relief.”  
Meria smiled. “You’ll make a good mom. Much better than me.”  
Kana looked back a moment and then back forward. “I intend to be. But to ensure that. We have to kill these titans.”  
“Lead the way, Kana.”  


Kana kicked the rubble off of herself and sat up, wiping the blood off her head. She flicked her hand away to get it off and then looked up. She could see the barrel high up in the sky. “Fuck. That must be the Collosal.”  
 _Watch your damn mouth!_  
“Kana!” Levi shouted in her head. “There you are. Are you alright? It doesn’t feel like anything’s broken.”  
“Yeah I’m good. Little brat is, too.” Kana answered. She raised her hand so that it was in line with the barrel hovering in the sky. “Good work, holding him for me, Tsuki.” She concentrated and the blades on her armor peeled off and reformed into the rings in front of her hand. She ordered, “Meria… don’t hold anything back. One shot. We’re going to kill the bastard now.”  
 _Got it!_  
Kana focused all the energy of her weapon into the palm of her hand. The flat of her palm started to glow once again and then a blast even more massive fired out from inside the rings and went straight up into the sky towards the barrel.  
Demi looked over and all of them had to cover their eyes from the bright light.  
Tsuki’s body was trembling and she started to slip forward. Her hands dropped to her sides just before the blast made impact with the barrel. It fell just enough that it fired on by.  
Kana’s eyes widened. “We missed!?”  
 _No! We were spot on! Tsuki must have run out of energy!_  
The barrel exploded in light now and the Collosal titan formed from the air.  
Eren rushed forward and wrapped his arms around all of them pulling them into his chest and dropping behind a house as the blast exploded across all of the district.  
Kana darted behind a house as well to shield herself form the explosion. “Shit…!”  
The Collosal titan, in all it’s steaming glory, stood.


	139. Into Hell

The Collosal titan began to swing it’s arms back and forth, tossing up houses and buildings and rubble, setting it on fire, and seding it flying.”  
Jean cursed from where he stood, holding Tsuki up. “It wants to turn Zhinganshina into a sea of fire…”  
Mikasa glanced down when she felt movement in her arms. “Armin’s waking up.”  
Armin trembled as he lifted his head.  
Jean told him, “Glad you’re back. Ow we need your brain. Berts setting fire to all of Zhinganshina. What do we do? Just wait here until some burning houses fall on us?”  
Connie asked, “What about the rest of Squad Hanji?”  
Demi glared at them. “We don’t know their status. We can’t waste time hunting for them.”  
Mikasa nodded. “Right now we take orders from Armin.”  
Armin trembled. He was still reeling from the feeling of dying. Now he had to put together a plan to save everyones lives? Armin mumbled, “Begin retreating. We’ll meet with the commander’s group and seek his orders. We’ll continue our original plan of fighting a war of attrition against the Collosal. We’ll keep trying to make him use his titan’s strength until our main target appears. His gigantic body won’t be able to make it over the wall. So we just trap him inside this cage until he exhausts himself.”  
Jean frowned. “Hold on, Armin. We can’t let Bert get near the wall where the commander’s group is. He’s torching everything around him. Just because there’s a wall between us and the horses on the other side, that doesn’t mean they’re safe. We still share the same sky. In other words, if the fire spreads to the buildings inside the wall, we’ll have even more dead horses to worry about. The commander’s group will be sandwhiched between the Beast Titan to their front and flames to their rear. Yes, a war of attrition is the best way to defeat the Collosal but we’re limited, too. By the aount of gas in our gear. We can’t depend on time to save us.”  
Armin started to shake. “So then we have to defeat the Collosal right now? Relying on no one but ourselves?”  
“Hey… you have three Slayers here.”  
Tsuki gasped with relief when Kana pulled herself up onto the building they were station on. She rushed up to her friend. “You’re okay?”  
Kana nodded. “I’m fine. Sounds like we need a plan though.”  
Demi glared at the giant titan. “A damn good one.”  
A couple burning houses fell near them.  
Sasha shouted, “Armin, the fire is getting close! We need orders!”  
Armin shook his head. “J-jean… can you… take over for me?”  
Jean gasped, “What?!”  
Armin argued, “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do! We’re in this mess to begin with because I misread Bertolt earlier! Jean you’re more cut out for this than I am!”  
Jean gritted his teeth.  
Tsuki frowned at Armin. The poor guy seemed shaken up.  
Jean sighed and jumped back on Eren’s shoulder. “The river. We’ll move to the river. Everyone get on Eren to save gas. At some point, we’ll have to get the Collosal to chase after us. But until then, Eren, try not to let him find you.”  
They all climbed on as they were told, but Jean glared down at Armin. “Armin… I may be able to get a good read on this situation… but I ca’t think of any sort of plan to get us out of it. In the end, I’m going to have to count on you.”  
Kana looked up at the Collosal titan as he walked and her eyes narrowed. Tsuki was low on energy. Demi’s weapon was suited for close combat. Leah was regenerating but her shield wasn’t a permanent way out of this situation. She even doubted that Meria’s blast would do much good against the heat of that Collosal titan. Some _key to destruction_ she turned out to be.

Erwin glared at the Collosal titan from where he stood a top the wall. He then turned and looked out at the Beast Titan. “So now what? Is this all going according to your plan?”

Levi landed, panting. He’d been helping the soldiers on this side of the wall protect the horses, in an attempt to find an opening to take down the Beast Titan, but the stupid bastard hadn’t moved from his place. Another soldier landed beside of him and announced, “This sides’ mopped up. There’s just the small ones ahead of us left. But how are we supposed to take down the beast titan? He’s just sitting still over there. Hasn’t even made a move.”  
“Yeah…” Levi agreed. “Seems we have a coward here. Well I guess that thing never had ball to begin with.”  
The soldier took off. “You stay back and rest. We’ll take care of the small ones for now!”  
Levi grumbled. Things weren’t going well on either side of the wall. Armin was falling flat on his planning and Kana, even with all the power in the world, won’t be able to do anything against the Collosal if they can’t get through the heat. He cursed. They need to come up with something.  
He had just started to turn his head when a rock flew by, was closer to him that he was comfortable with.   
His eyes widened. Rocks slammed into the buildings all around him and cries went up as body parts went flying everywhere.  
Erwin shouted, “Frontal Bombardment! Troops take cover!”  
Levi jumped forward. “Dammit! Everyone!”  
The Beast titan picked up another large rock, but crushed it in his hand to create a thousand leathal weapons. He threw them again, this time taking out almost the entire front row of houses, even some titans, but even more troops were caught up in the fire.  
Levi dropped down between a couple houses to avoid getting hit. He cursed. He started to head back when he noticed that Leah was still slumped against a building, regenerating. He cursed and rushed over, narrowly avoiding another round of rocks, picked up her body and headed towards the other soldiers.  
Soldiers were beginning to panic.   
“What’s that sound? Explosions?”  
“Do our enemies have cannons or something?”  
“If they do, they must have a hundred of them!”  
“Calm down all of you! You’ll make those horses panic.”  
Levi swung in and shouted at them. “The titan is throwing stones. All of you take the horses and retreat towards the wall!”  
They immediately started following orders, dragging the horses back to the wall.  
Erwin jumped down off the wall and reeled himself to the ground.  
Levi grabbed a soldier by the collar and pulled him up, “Stand up! Do you want to die here?”  
Marlowe shouted, “Commander!”  
Levi looked over at him. “How’s the situation?” He carefully set Leah down in the grass.  
Erwin confessed. “Could not be worse. Most of the houses ahead of us have been blow to bits by those stones. If he keeps this up, this place will be leveled in no time. We won’t have anywhere to hide.” Erwin sighed. “If we retreat here, we lose all hope of victory. The beast titan must have been controlling the smaller titans to herd all of our soldiers into one forward location. Because of that, Squads Dirk, Marlene, and Klaus who were fighting those smaller titans, seem to have been wiped out by that earlier bombardment. In other words… the surviving forces within the walls… are ou survey corps recruits…Captain Levi… and me.”  
The recruits started screaming and panicking as another round of stones tore through another layer of buildings.  
Levi glared at Erwin. “Do you have… some kind of plan?”  
Erwin looked away.

“Yell, Eren!”  
Eren let out a massive titan roar. The collosal looked at him, but then turned away and continued towards the wall.  
Jean cursed. “That bastard is ignoring us! He must know we don’t want him going there!”  
Eren ran forward.  
Jean asked, “Armin, have a plan yet?”  
Armin looked down. “N-no…”  
Kana cursed. She reached over and grabbed Demi’s shoulder. “If they’re not coming up with anything we have to buy time.”  
Demi arched a brow. “Okay. How do we do that? That thing is on fire. None of us can get close.”  
Kana smirked. “We need our shield back.”  
Demi looked back at the wall. “Alright.”  
Jean gasped when Demi yanked Tsuki back and he demanded, “What are you - ?”  
Kana interjected. “You guys have to come up with a final plan. But we’re going to give you time to do that. I need all the Slayers though.”  
Demi ordered, “Tsuki, fly Kana and I to the other side of the wall!”  
Kana warned. “Watch out for flying rocks though.”  
Tsuki gave her a confused look but nodded her head and flapped her wings. She shot off Eren’s shoulders with both of them under her arms.  
Jean frowned. “I hope… they really know what they’re doing…”

Levi looked over when all of the other Slayers landed.  
Erwin’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here? Have you given up on fighting the Collosal?”  
“Not at all.” Kana argued, rushing over to Leah with Demi. They both knelt down and Kana ordered her, “Demi give her some skin.”  
Demi rubbed her hands together. “Time to wake up sleeping beauty. You’re needed back here.” She placed her hands on Leah’s shoulders and some of the snake skin that adorned Demi’s body shifted and moved, sliding off her hands and onto the parts of Leah’s body that were still regenerating. As soon as the snake skin covered them, her body started regenerating much faster and within a few moments, she opened her eyes.  
Demi sang. “Attagirl!”  
Kana leaned over her. “You with us? I don’t have time to get you up to speed.”  
Leah looked up and weakly stated, “There was an overwhelming amount of death….I sensed it. We’re in trouble.”  
“Yes.” Levi confirmed. “We’ve already lost most of our soldiers.”  
Leah’s eyes widened. “Oh… I dropped my shields… so I…”  
Kana pulled her up. “Yes, yes, I know. No time, come on. Up you go.”  
Leah stumbled. “What is…?”  
Kana turned back to Tsuki. “Ready to go back?”  
Tsuki nodded and started flapping her wings. She picked up Demi and Leah and almost Kana but she turned and looked back at Erwin and Levi. “Armin hasn’t come up with a plan… so this is our only option to hold the Collosal up from dropping down on you guys, too. Do you… have a plan for getting rid of the Beast titan?”  
Levi looked expectantly at Erwin.  
When Erwin didn’t immediately answer, Kana looked away for a moment and then sighed. “I’ll be back.” She grabbed Tsuki and they flew back to the wall.  
Levi turned to Erwin. “Is there a point if we can’t get back out of here? They’ll take down the Collosal and then what?”  
Erwin remained quiet.  
Levi sighed and looked back at the wall. “In combination with the Slayers, a very select few of you should be able to make it back. If they’re able to capture or kill the Armor and Collosal, them, Eren, and you can make it back. That way we’d at least have a few survivors.”  
Marlowe shouted at one of the other soldiers suddenly, “Hey! A horse escaped! You’re supposed to be watching them, aren’t you?”  
“Shut up! What’s the point anymore?”  
Marlowe gasped, “What was that?”  
“All of those powerful Survey Corps members just got wiped out in the blink of an eye! And you must know it as well as I do! It doesn’t matter if we protect the horses! Because no one will be around to ride them home!” He curled up and put his hands to his head. “It made sense in theory. If humanity stayed cooped up inside the walls, we’d someday be eaten up by titans who appeared out of nowhere. Someone had to act, even if it was dangerous to do so. Humanity needed people willing to sacrifice themselves so others wouldn’t fall victim. And when I was asked who would be that brave soldier…I ended up thinking I would…” Tears began falling from his eyes. “But… I… never imagined that dying like that… could be so meaningless… and when I think about it… that’s what happens to nearly all of us who die. Why did I ever think that it’d be different for me?”  
Levi looked back at Erwin who was still quiet. He carried on. “the recruits and survivors from Hanji’s squad can scatter on horses all at oce and try to head home. How does that sound? With them acting as bait, you and the Slayers on Eren will be able to escape.”  
Erwin asked, “And what are you going to do, Levi?”  
Levi looked back. “I’ll deal with that beast. I’ll lead him away.”  
“No.” Erwin argued. “You can’t even get close to him.”  
“Probably not. But if you, Eren, and the Slayers make it back alive, there’s still hope. Isn’t that the kind of situation we’re in now? This is a major defeat. Honestly, I don’t know that any of the rest of us will make it back alive at this point.”  
“True.” Erwin stated, looking down. “If we didn’t have a way of fighting back.”  
Levi paused and then looked back up at him. “Do you have one?”  
Erwin went quiet again for several seconds. Finally he answered, “…Yes.”  
Levi glared. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why didn’t you put that ugly mouth of yours to work sooner and say something?”  
Erwin confessed at the say moment more rocks came flying through, destroying more houses. “If this plan goes well you may be able to defeat that beast. But oly if we sacrifice the lives of all the recruits here, as well as mine.” Erwin looked past him and at the other soldiers. “You’re absolutely right. No matter what we do, most of us will surely die. In fact ist most likely that we will _all_ be wiped out. So our only choice is to assume we are all expendable and work from there. We’d have to ask these young people to give up their lives. You’d eed the skills of a first-rate con man to come up with a reason that convincing. So I doubt any of them would charge forward unless I was leading the way. Which would mean I’d be the very first to die. Without ever learning… what was in that basement…”  
Levi looked at him in surprise. “What?”  
Erwin sighed and walked over to a crate and dropped down on it. He mumbled, “I just want to go to that basement…Everything I have done, I did thinking that this day would come. That some day I would be able to check my answers. There were so many times that I thought it would be easier to just die. But then… the dream I shared with my father would flash through my head. And now those answers are close enough to reach out and grab!” He dropped his head but kept his hand up, trembling. “They are right there. But…Levi…can you see them? All of our comrades? Our comrades are watching us. They want to know what we will do with the hearts they dedicated to our cause. Because they may be gone, but their fight isn’t over.”  
Some of the flying rocks broke through the last line of houses and began hitting the wall itself.  
Erwin didn’t even flinch. “Is it all… nothing more than… my own childish delusion?”  
Levi knelt down in front of him. “You’ve fought a good fight. We’ve only come this far thanks to you. I’m making the choice. Give up on your dreams and die for us. Lead the recruits straight to hell. And I’ll take down the beast titan.”

Tsuki flew down, dropping Demi off near Eren.  
Jean shouted, “You’re back!”  
Armin’s eyes were wide on Leah. “You’re okay!”  
Leah nodded and Tsuki flew her close enough that she could cup his cheeks. “Armin, you have to come up with a plan, okay? You have to get us out of here. We’re going to buy you time.”  
Connie asked, “What are you guys gonna do?”  
Kana grinned. “We’re gonna slice him up.”  
Tsuki pulled back up. “Get a plan guys! We’re going in.” She was holding onto Leah who was holding onto Kana as they soared over the district and towards the Collosal titan.  
Kana held her hands out towards the ground and the blades that were all over her armor glowed and reformed into her hands as a massive long blade. She shouted, “Get ready!”  
Tsuki flew faster and brought them right in near his legs. She turned last minute and Kana put all of her strength into the blade and sliced right through the back of his leg. In response, the Collosal let out a cry of pain and emitted his powerful wave of steam.  
Kana shouted, “Now Leah!”  
Leah gripped Kana tighter and a shield went up around all three of them, protecting them from the heat. Tsuki powered right on through the blast and they went back in again, this time cutting along the back of his knee. They repeated this process where they could, laying in any cut they could manage. When the Collosal realized what was happening, he began swinging his large arms around, but they were too slow to be a threat. Tsuki easily flew around them.  
Kana shouted, “Take us up and drop us!”  
“Are you crazy!?” She shouted.  
“Yes!” Kana answered, “Do it!”  
Tsuki flew straight up over the Collosal’s head, hovering above him. Kana ordered, “Throw us!” She nodded and flew up a little higher before turning and coming back down, throwing Leah and Kana with all her strength.  
The single long blade Kana had turned into two long blades that ran up the sides of her arms. Leah was holding onto her back as they flew straight down at the Collosal. He emitted his massive wave of steam and heat again, but it did nothing against Leah’s shield.  
They broke on through it and continued right down at his nape. Kana turned, and, using the momentum of the fall, buried her blades into his massive nape and drug them down until she had cut out a large, solid piece of the Collosal.  
Her eyes widened when the piece fell away and Bert’s body was revealed. Kana reeled her and Leah in. “Without that heat, he has no protection.” She sliced away his limbs and grabbed his hair, yanking him from the massive titan. She held her other hand out just as Tsuki flew around and caught it, pulling both of them away.  
Tsuki screamed, “We did it!”


	140. The Armor and the Beast

As soon as the three Slayers made it back to the rooftop, they quickly wrapped up and gagged Bert so that he wouldn’t be able to reform his titan again.  
Armin wrapped his arms around Leah. “That was incredible. You did amazing, Leah.”  
Leah frowned a bit and scratched her cheek. “I didn’t really do much.”  
Kana patted her friends back. “You were the only reason we could do this, Leah. Don’t sell yourself short.”  
Demi looked up at her. “I have to admit, Kana, I was kind of skeptical of you coming out on this mission, all things considered. But now…I’m glad.”  
Jean stated, “So we’ve taken down both the Armor and Collosal titans. Now we just have to decide what to – “  
They stopped when the ground started to rumble and they looked over to see that the Armored titan was getting back up.  
Kana stood. “Shit. What do we have to do to kill him?”

Erwin walked towards the recruits and shouted, “I will now announce our final operation! Troops to attention! All units present will now perform a mounted charge! Our enemy is the beast titan! Obviously, this will make us a perfect target for the enemy. We will wait for the enemy to begin throwing rocks, then all fire signal flares at once! We’ll do everything we can to reduce the accuracy of those rocks to whatever extent possible! While we act as a diversion, Captain Levi will go kill the beast titan. That is all.”  
Several of the recruits started shaking and trembling, dropping to their knees, some getting sick.  
Erwin stated. “I’m sorry. Standing around here simply means waiting for rocks to come raining down on us! Now saddle up, double time!”  
No one moved – but what would one expect?  
On soldier asked, “Are we… about to die?”  
“That’s right.” Erwin stated.  
“So… you’re saying if we’re going to die anyway… we may as well die fighting?”  
“That’s right.” He said again.  
Tears were forming in the soldier’s eyes. “No… if we’re going to die anyway… we can die however we want. We could even die while disobeying orders… and it wouldn’t matter, right?”  
“That’s absolutely right. It doesn’t make a single difference. No matter what dreams or hopes you may have… no matter what kind of blissful life you’ve lived until now… what happens to your body when it gets crushed by a rock is the same. Everyone dies sooner or later. Does that mean all life is meaningless? Was the fact that you were ever born meaningless from the start? Would you say the same of your dead comrades? Were those soldiers’ lives meaningless?” Erwin suddenly shouted, “No they weren’t! And our fight gives meaning to those solders’ lives!! Those brave fallen men and women! Those poor fallen men and women! The only ones who can remember them are us, the living! So we will die here and trust the meaing of our lives to the next generation! That is the sole way we can rebel against this cruel world!”  
No one cheered. But how could anyone cheer to that? All it was… was a noble excuse for all of them to die.  
Levi looked away. They would all die… to give him _one_ chance to kill the beast titan.

The armor titan swung his fist down, nearly hitting all of them, but only a few pieces of debris hit any of them. Kana dropped down behind a house and looked over at the others. They were exhausted. They’d used most of their energy to take down the Collosal, but now they had to deal with the Armor.  
“Kana…”  
Kana blinked when she heard Levi’s voice in her head. But her heart froze when she heard the way his voice sounded and the feelings that were coming through to her – heartbreak, defeat, loss. But there was still a determination and power there. She asked, “What is it?”  
“Tell me. What are the chances you Slayers can finish off that armored bastard and get over the wall in the next few minutes?”  
Kana looked at the others. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but we’re exhausted. We’re holding on by the skin of our teeth, waiting for a plan. It would take a fucking miracle. I’ve used up majority of my own power with those blasts. There’s maybe one more left in me. But I can’t use it until I have a clear shot.”  
“Then. It’s impossible.”  
Kana hesitated and asked, “What’s going on, on the other side of that wall?”  
“It’s not good.” Levi confessed. “We’re going to lose all our soldiers.”  
Kana’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?!”  
“I’m fine.” He told her. “I’m going to take down that beast.”  
Kana turned her head. “Wait. I’ll come help you – “  
“We can’t wait. You focus on the Armored Titan. I’ll take the Beast.”  
Kana snarled. “Don’t you dare die, you understand?”  
“Yes. I do.”

Levi glared up at Erwin. “You want me to approach the beast by myself using vertical maneuvering? There’s nothing around him. There isn’t a single tree or house or anything else I can use!”  
“No.” Erwin argued. “You have the targets that are the perfect height. They’re standing there, all in a row, aren’t they? Use the titans to sneak up on and ambush the beast titan.”

All of the Survey Corps recruits, mounted on horses, charged straight for the Beast titan. Once the beast picked up another round of rocks to throw, they all held their signal flares forward and fired them all off. Through the signal flares came the first round of rocks. One of the first ones went right through Erwin’s horse and into his stomach. He was knocked off, but his eyes narrowed with determination… all the way to the ground.  
A couple soldiers shouted, “The commander!”  
“Don’t turn back!”  
“Move forward!”  
Another round of rocks were thrown at them. They fired again.  
Marlowe was now at the front of the charge. His eyes widened as he watched the stones come flying at them.  
The entire front row of men were torn apart with the last onslaught.

Demi put her hand on Kana’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”  
Kana narrowed her eyes but her irises were shaking. “I have to be.” She looked up at the Armored Titan. “We have to kill this thing and get over that wall.”  
Demi asked, “Is it bad?”  
Kana didn’t answer. Armin and the others rushed up to them where they were standing between houses. He announced, “I have a plan…You just need a shot right?”  
Jean let out a relieved sigh. “You’re back in it then, good. You had me convinced it was all over there for a bit.”  
Kana jerked her head forward. “What’s the plan, Armin?”  
Armin confessed. “We’ll be depending on you and Demi for this. Leah and Tsuki are almost completely drained.”

Levi sliced through titan after titan as he made his way around the arch to get to his final target. In between each enemy, he could hear the shouts and screams of death and defeat. The rattling impact of every stone that shook the ground. He looked over at the soldiers and his gaze saddened for a moment. “I’m sorry. All of you…”

Eren charged at Reiner and went to swing a punch but Reiner dropped down underneath his arm. When he did, Demi reeled herself around from Eren’s elbow and slammed into his face. She tried to cut out his eye, but she only got across his nose and his eyebrow. She jumped back and away.  
Reiner yanked back, but he stumbled, only to be met with several other people flying around his head. He took an instinctive swing, but they reeled themselves away before they were hit. When he took his swing though, Kana flew up his arm and sliced off several of his fingers. She turned in the air, her eyes filled with rage.  
How many soldiers died in this battle?

The Beast titan threw another round of rocks, killing the last line of soldiers who screamed as they charged. The beast shouted, “Do you really think all that screaming is going to do you any good!?” He laughed as he straightened up. “Oh. You poor things…” He looked to his right, seeing that the titan closest to him had collapsed into the ground. All of the others were also laying flat. “My titans… have fallen?”

Reiner went to take another swing at Eren and was able to grasp his body. Lifting his massive titan form up, he slammed him down into the ground. Eren let out a cry of pain.  
Demi screamed out, “You son of a bitch!” She flipped down and created a broadsword out of Sarthis again and stabbed the weapon right through his shoulder muscle. His fingerless arm went limp, freeing Eren who kicked him off.  
The others approached him again, thunderspears at the ready. They all shot them forward, landing into different places along Reiner’s body.  
Armin swung up and around and shouted, “Guys! Now!”  
Reiner turned his head, seeing that Armin had swung within reach of his left side. He reached out and grasped the wire that connected Armin to him and yanked.  
Armin’s eyes widened.  
Leah let out a scream. “Armin!!!”  
Reiner ripped the wire to the side, slinging Armin around and slamming him into the building.  
Leah’s eyes widened as all the thoughts and feelings of his inside of her disappeared. She screamed.  
Kana glared in fury in Leah’s direction, seeing that she was now rushing to the ruined building Armin had been thrown into. She bounced off another wall and flew right at Reiner, this time, catching the side of his face and swinging in, stabbing the blade on her left arm into his eye. “I will end you…!”

An anchor sank into the Beasts shoulder and he turned his head, looking up to see a single soldier flying at him.  
Levi flew towards him, both of his blades ready to tear the beast apart.  
It reached up and tried to grab him, but he released his anchor just before his hand caught him and he spun out of the way, spinning completely around his arm, all the way to his shoulder and off his back.  
The beast pulled his arm back into himself but as he did, it fell to pieces to the ground.

Kana circled around Reiner’s neck, his free hand going to protect his name but her eyes darkened. Demi shot forward and sliced out the back of his knee at the same time Kana bounced off her feet off another building and flew back forward, this time, tearing across his eyes completely, blinding the Armored Titan.

Levi flew back up the Beast titan’s back. Just like Reiner, he covered the nape of his neck and turned his head to try to get away. Levi shot up his face and buried both of his blades in his eyes.

Demi flew up and took out the wrist of the hand that covering Reiner’s neck. Eren charged forward and slammed into Reiner, knocking him back. He stumbled, collapsing on the leg that his knee was cut out of.  
Jean shouted, “He can’t stop all of us!”  
They flew forward, all of them striking cuts in where they could betwee the plates of armor.

Levi flew down and spun around the ankles of the beast titan, cutting both of his feet clean off. As the beast fell forward, Levi darkly stated, “You looked like… you were really enjoying yourself.”

Demi and Tsuki slammed into either side of Reiner’s head, Demi buried her longest blade through his jaw and Tsuki pointed her scepter down. She whispered, “Reiner. This had to happen. Because you betrayed us…” She blasted through his mouth. His jaw fell open.  
They both jumped back and away.

When the Beast titan hit the ground, his hand bounced off his nape. Levi snarled, “Don’t let me put a damper on your fun!” In the blink of an eye, he ripped the hand apart with his blades.

Kana sank an anchor into Reiner’s forehead and swung down until she was in front of him. The two rings were in front of her hand again. Her eyes were dark as she held her hand out, all of her energy collecting into it. “This is it, Reiner. This is the end.” She fired off the most powerful blast she could, firing it down straight into his mouth and exploding out the back of his neck.

Levi flew on down and sliced through the nape of the Beast titan’s neck like it was butter. Blood sprayed with every piece that was ripped away until the weilder of the titan burst forth, letting out a scream of pain. Both of his arms and a leg were sliced clean off. He turned and Levi didn’t waste a moment burying his blade in his mouth and pushing him back down on the titan.

Reiner’s body exploded from the nape and went straight down into the ground. Kana jumped up on the shoulder and glared down at him. He was burned crispy, but if blowing his head off hadn’t killed him then he still wasn’t dead. Kana ordered. “Bind him. It’s over.”


	141. Injection

Everyone rushed forward towards Reiner.  
Kana looked over her shoulder, back where the building had been crushed. For a Slayer, that may’ve been nothing. But for a human…”  
Tsuki landed next to Kana. Kana asked. “If Armin’s dead… should we turn back time?”  
Tsuki looked down. “Even if… I thought it was a good idea… I don’t have the strength left… We… won. Should we even consider…?”  
Kana dropped down off the titan that was slowly dissipating. She whispered, “I don’t think the outcome of this is something we can be proud of.” She hurried towards the building so she could see the end result.

Levi glared down at the owner of the beast titan. “Turning into a titan puts a heavy strain o your body. So you can’t transform again while you’re busy healing – isn’t that right?”  
The person glared at Levi through the mouthful of his sword. Levi pushed the sword on through his mouth and up out of his eye. Levi snarled, “Hey. Answer me. Don’t you have any manners?” He looked out ahead of the beast. He couldn’t kill him yet. If there was someone still alive, he could give them the titan injection and have them eat this bastard and they could steal the power for themselves.  
A sound caught Levi’s attention and he looked over just in time to see the quadrupedal titan lunge at him. Levi jumped out of the way just in time, but the titan wrapped it’s mouth around the owner and immediately jumped away from him.  
Levi snarled, “Hey! Where are you going? Stop. I’m not done with you yet.”  
The limbless blonde haired man screamed, “All of you! Kill him!!”  
At his shout, all of the titans that had been remaining on the left side of the arch shape turned their heads and went running right for Levi.  
The blond man gasped and panted, “Look at what you’ve done, Levi… augh this hurts. But your weapons must be nearly spent. Once you’re gone, I’ll have wiped all of you out. It was a pretty close fight, but we win!”  
Levi glared in rage at the titans coming at him. “Wait. I swore to him… that I’d kill you no matter what. I… swore to him!”

Kana came to a stop when she heard Leah crying out loud. Her eyes widened as she saw past her, that Armin’s body was unburied from a pile of rubble, but his body was in tathers. Multiple of his limbs were broken, an easily fatal gash was in his stomach and he was covered in blood.  
Eren had climbed out of his titan and rushed in, but he came to a stop as well. He started shaking. “No… Armin, no…”  
Leah looked up at him, her face covered in tears. “Eren…! He can’t be dead…!”  
Tsuki looked at Kana. “There’s so much blood…”  
Kana swallowed hard. “You’re…sure…?”  
Leah screamed at Tsuki, “Can’t you turn this back!? Can’t you turn back time!?”  
Demi asked her. “And give up having captured Bert and Reiner?”  
Leah shook her head. “It’s not worth it!”  
Kana knelt down beside Leah and wrapped her arms around her. “Shh…” She cupped her head and pulled it into her chest. “I know it hurts… I know…”  
Demi dropped down in front of her. “Leah… his sacrifice… won us the battle. Don’t be sad… be proud.”  
Leah screamed. “I can’t! I loved him! Please…! Undo it!” She begged. “Tsuki turn it all back! Please!”  
Tsuki’s eyes were glassy. “I can’t… I can’t Leah…”  
Eren dropped to his knees, tears filling his eyes as well. Demi gasped and rushed back over to him. He mumbled, “I should hav eknown this would happen… but…all I could do was depend on him… Armin… he should have… run away…”  
There was a loud explosion and they looked up except for Eren and Leah. Kana rushed out and looked over, seeing that a titan busted through the wall with a man on his back. It jumped down the streets, running towards them. Her eyes widened and she turned, “There’s a titan coming for Bert and Reiner!”  
Tsuki gasped and rushed over to where Bert was laying unconscious. Tsuki grabbed him up and brought her sword up to his neck just as the titan came to a stop in front of them. “Stay back!” She screamed.  
Kana stared down at the titan. Was the person on top the beast titan? A cold chill ran through her. Where was Levi? She realized that she could still feel the emotions of rage running through her so he wasn’t dead. And she wasn’t in pain so he wasn’t hurt…  
Tsuki warned, “We can’t let you have him back…! I’ll kill him if I have to!”  
Kana ordered, “Tsuki! Just end him!” She raised her blades to go for the titan and the guy on it’s back when the guy looked up at the wall.  
He cursed, “There’s no way he chased me all the way here! What a monster…”  
Kana looked up as well, seeing Levi standing there. He was covered in blood, all of it steaming off of him into the air. He dropped down and reeled himself to the building they were in.  
The guy snarled. “Fine. I get it, Levi. We’re both too injured. I’ll call this a draw.” He looked at Bert and Tsuki. “I’m sorry but it looks like this is the end for you, Bertolt.” The titan turned and bolted off the other direction.  
Levi landed in front of Tsuki and Bert.  
Kana landed as Levi ordered, “Tsuki, you can make use of your wings. Give me the gas you have so I can go after him.”  
Kana intercepted. “You’re not going alone.”  
Tsuki lowered Bert and started to take off the tanks of her gear when they all heard a cough.  
They looked over to see that Armin was coughing on his blood.

Hanji walked up to Jean, Connie, Sasha, and Mikasa. “You guys got him.”  
Jean gasped, “You’re alive!”  
Hanji nodded. “Just me… just barely…” She put her hand to her bleeding eye.  
Jean glanced back at Reiner where they had him bound up. “We found this.” He held up a steel case and then looked at Reiner. “What is it? We found it in your pocket. You used all the strength you had left to try and get to this thing before we finished your limbs off. Suicide pills? A bomb?”  
“A letter.” Reiner answered.  
“What kind of letter? Reiner asked.  
“From Ymir…” He answered. “Please… give it to Krista…”  
Hanji sighed. “After we examine it first.” She pulled out a blade and stood to her feet. “Alright. I have a mountain of questions I’d like to ask you, but… your mouth is probably as hard as your armor. I wonder…will you tell us what we want to know?”  
“Nope.” Reiner answered with a smile.  
“Thanks.” Hanji stated. “That makes this easier.”  
Jean watched as she started to take a blade and push it through his neck, but for some reason, he thought about Tsuki’s reaction. For some reason, for her, he didn’t want Reiner to die. If there was any chance…  
Hanji glared back at Jean. He insisted, “Are you sure about this? Isn’t it possible to take his power from him?” He was thinking back to when the commander had announced to them that they had an injection that could be used.  
Hanji told him, “I don’t think the conditions have been met. We don’t know where Levi or the other recruits are. And I don’t think we have time to hunt them down. There’s just no way to gauge how much strength these guys have left in them. I could send his head flying and I still wouldn’t let my guard down.”  
Jean looked down. “That’s not like you. If you’re cotent with leaving things unknown…how can we ever expect to defeat the titans?” What was he doing? Maybe killing Reiner was the best way to end the torment that Tsuki felt over his betrayal. He just… couldn’t help feeling like she wasn’t the girl that would feel happy if someone died. For any reason. Jean asked, “When will we ever know enough to face our enemies?”  
Hanji sighed. “Mikasa? How much gas do you have left?”  
Mikasa stated. “Hardly any. But I have enough I can reach the others.”  
“That’s more than me.” Hanji replied. She spent a moment thinking over things before she ordered, “Mikasa, go check on Eren and the others immediately. Replenish your gas while you’re there and get the injection from Levi. If you can’t do that for whatever reason, fire a flare. That will be my signal to end Reiner.”  
When Mikasa took off, Jean looked down. “Hanji, I…”  
Hanji told him, “This was my decision. You only provided data. The question is… who? Who are we turning into a titan?”

Leah and Eren shot to Armin’s side as Mikasa reached the building. Leah screaming, “He’s breathing! He’s still breathing!”  
Eren was gasping, “So he’s not dead! Armin! You can do it! Breathe again!” He turned and shouted to Levi, “Captain! Give me the injection! We can turn him into a titan and have him eat Bert!”  
Leah’s eyes widened. “Then… he’ll be okay…?”  
Eren ordered, “Hurry! Give it to me!”  
Levi hesitantly pulled it out of his poncho. “Alright…”  
Kana glanced at him. She could sense an overwhelming amount of hesitation and also the fading sense of hope. “Rivi…?”  
Mikasa raised a signal flare and fired it off.

As soon as the flare went up, Hanji and Jean looked over to see the four legged titan racing towards them. It opened it’s mouth and Jean reeled himself across the ground just in time to grab Hanji out of the way. Instead, it scooped up Reiner and raced off.  
Connie cried out, “He’s going to take Reiner!” He took off as fast as he could but he didn’t get very far before Hanji ordered, “Don’t! Connie, you barely have any gas left. You’ll just get yourself killed.”  
Jean dropped to his knees and shouted, “Dammit! It’s my fault!”  
Hanji sighed. “I told you this was my decision. Let’s join up with the others.”

Levi started to hand over the injection to Eren when another soldier dropped down into the ruined building. He had another body strapped to his back. The soldier panted, “Captain Levi! I finally caught up to you…” He straightened up and looked at the body on his back. “Commander Erwin is dying. He was hit in the stomach. His organs are spilling out and he won’t stop beeding…I thought… the injection might save him. What do you think?”  
Levi’s eyes widened and he withdrew the case from where Eren had almost taken it.  
Eren asked, “Captain?”  
The soldier lay Erwin down and checked his pulse. “He’s still breathing. Please.”  
Leah shouted, “No! You can’t! Please! Save Armin!” When she started to get up, Tsuki wrapped her arms around her and tried cooing to her to calm down.  
Levi stepped over and checked Erwin’s breathing as well. He stated, “He’s still alive.” He turned to the others. “Sorry, but we’re giving this injection to Erwin.”  
Eren shot over and stood over Levi, his eyes filled with rage.  
Eren’s voice trembled, “You just said you’d use it on Armin.”  
Levi argued, “I’m choosing to keep alive the man who will save Humanity.”  
Mikasa stepped forward from where she was, but she already had a blade drawn. Her eyes were wide and desperate, just like Eren’s. As soon as Kana saw the blade, she reached over and grabbed it and pushed her back. “Mikasa! Stop!”  
Levi glared at them. “Do you two have any idea what you’re doing? We’re talking about Erwin Smith. The Commander of the Survey Corps. You’re telling me to sit here and let him die?”  
There were tears in Eren and Mikasa’s eyes. Leah shouted, “Armin’s plans have gotten out of so much trouble. You can’t let _him_ die!!”  
Levi started to turn away. “There’s no time. Get out of my way.”  
Eren grabbed the injection case. Levi looked up at him. “Eren. Look past your own feelings.”  
Eren screamed, “My feelings?! Why did _you_ hesitate before handing over the injection!?”  
Levi answered, “I was considering the possibility that Erwin was alive.”  
“I don’t see how you could have ever predicted that Floch would bring the dying commander here!” Eren argued.  
“You’re right.” Levi stated. “But now that Erwin is here, we’re using it on him.” When Eren still wouldn’t let go, he yanked his hand back and his other came around and hit Eren in the side of the face. Eren went flying into the rubble.  
Demi shot forward, right at the Captain. Kana released Mikasa and intercepted Demi. She blocked the scythe with the blade on her arm and Kana glared at Demi. “Do not… even _think_ about laying a hand on him.”  
Demi snarled. “No one touches Eren. I put a blade through you twice before, I will do it again.”  
Kana’s eyes darkened more. “I’ll cut you down where you stand.”  
Tsuki shouted, “Demi! Stop! You’re out of your god damn mind – “  
Mikasa shot forward, grabbing Levi’s shoulder and shoving him down as she raised her blade, ready to cut through him to get the injection.  
Kana gasped and went to turn around but Demi grabbed her by the hair, yanked her head down and slammed her knee up into her face. She jumped and kicked her in the neck and sent her flying to the side. Demi glanced over at Eren and raised her scythe. “I should clarify… my loyalty isn’t to humanity. It’s to Eren and my friends. Course that means I can’t kill you Captain, but I can cut that case right out of your hand.”  
Mikasa growled, but she noticed that Levi wasn’t putting up much fight. She told Demi, “He’s weak. You can just take it from him.”  
Levi glared at her. “You must know it, too. Humanity can never defeat the titans without Erwin’s strength.”  
Floch agreed, “He’s right Mikasa, Demi. All of you…! Stop acting crazy!”  
Eren was lifting himself up slowly. “Without Armin… we can’t…if we don’t have Armin… we can’t win… hasn’t that always been true…? We used that boulder to block Trost and save it… we came up with a plan to advance through titan territory during the night… thanks to Armin. Armin exposed Reiner when he was trying to stay hidden. And he’s the reason we were able to defeat Bert and Reiner…It’s all because of him! It’s not me or the commander who is going to save humanity, it’s Armin! Right Mikasa!”  
Mikasa looked up at Demi. “Take it!”  
Demi leaned down. “Sorry about this Captain. Hope you’ll forgive – “  
A blast of energy erupted and knocked all of them back sending all of them flying away from Levi and into the walls of the ruined building. Kana got to her feet, her eyes glowing red. “ **Enough, all of you. We put all of our lives on the line knowing this would happen. None of you have the right to turn against each other because you think your decision is more justified. The next person to raise their blade, I will kill you where you stand.** ”  
Demi panted, staring at Kana in surprise. She really didn’t think the Slayer had it in her. But it seemed… the two of them were even more alike than she gave her credit for.  
Levi sat up and started to stand.  
Leah stepped towards Kana. “I can’t. I’m sorry Kana. I can’t just… give up on Armin. I swore to give my life for him. If that means I have to fight you… I will.”  
Kana’s eyes widened in rage. The last person she thought she’d ever have to exchange blows with was Leah.  
Floch shouted, “Will you stop! You’re no the only ones suffering here! You don’t know it yet… but there isn’t a single living soldier left on the other side of that wall…”  
Eyes began widening. Floch continued, “The beast titan killed them all. He threw crushed rocks _through_ them. They were all… smashed to a pulp. Every one of us thought we were gonners. But commander Erwin was the exception. He figured out a plan that would let him get his teeth into that monster’s neck… and carried it out. He used the lives of every one of us recruits as bait. All so that Captain Levi could ambush the beast.”  
Kana’s gaze jerked to Levi and she saw his downcast gaze. Her chest ached so painfully much.  
Floch looked down. “According to plan… we all ended up in pieces. Gordon. Sandra. Marlowe… none of them died thinking how noble their sacrifices would be…I’m sure all they felt at the end… was fear. When I found Commander Erwin still breathing… I was going to put him out of his misery. But then…I decided I was treating him too gently. Perhaps he did need to spend more time in this hell. That’s when I realized that the only one who can destroy all the titans is the devil himself! And my mission is to bring the devil back to life! That’s why… when all the others died bravely, I, like a coward, lived!”  
Jean, Hanji, and the others finally reached the building, seeing the two almost dead, Bert’s body, and the tense atmosphere. Hanji’s eyes widened on Erwin. “My god…”  
Levi opened up the case and filled the the needle. They were wasting time. If he didn’t use it, both of them would die and they’d miss the opportunity.  
Mikasa started to get up again but Hanji grabbed her. “Don’t! We need Erwin! If he dies now, humanity will lose it’s symbol! We can’t allow our hope to be extinguished!”  
Mikasa argued, “Armin could do that too!”  
Leah shot forward but Kana intercepted her, grabbed her neck and shoved her down. She snarled, “Leah, don’t make me do this.”  
Eren sat up. “Captain… have you heard of the ocean? It’s like a gigantic lake… that stretches far beyond the horizon. Not only that but I guess it’s made out of salt water. That’s what Armin said. He said someday we’d go and see the ocean on the other side of the walls… but that… was a dream we had as little kids… I’d forgotten a long time ago…All I had inside of me was hate… to avenge my mom and wipe out the titans…! But Armin’s different! Fighting isn’t all he has…! He has dreams!”  
Kana looked back when she felt pain fill her chest. Her mind was filled with images of Isabel and Farlan and she felt tears in her eyes. They all had dreams… but they would only come true for some and not others.  
Levi stood and walked over, grabbing Bert. He stated simply. “My decision is final. Erwin will turn into a titan and eat Bert. The rest of you clear out.”  
Kana stood up, releasing Leah. She was shaking with sobs. “I hate you…I hate you! I thought you’d understand! Aren’t you supposed to support your friends!? This isn’t right! It’s not fair…! Please! Please!”  
Kana lifted her friend up and pulled her over her shoulder. Eren was still struggling against Demi but her glare was on Kana. She sighed and lifted up Eren and jumped away from the building. Kana sighed and whispered, “You have every right to hate me, Leah. I don’t blame you. We’re all just trying to do what’s right.”  
As she walked away with the others, thoughts and feelings kept filling her mind. Remembering Eren, Mikasa, and Armin talking about the sea. Remember how similar it was to how Farlan and Isabel spoke of the future. Remembering… how painful it is losing someone you care so much about.  
Kana set Leah down several rooftops away and she ripped way, turning around and crying in pain.  
Tsuki put her hand on Kana’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”  
Kana stated simply. “I’m not worried about me.” She turned away. “Levi?”  
“Yeah…” His voice was shaky.  
“I’m sorry you have to make this choice.” Kana whispered. “But you’re not wrong. Whatever you decide.”  
Thoughts of Erwin’s dream – the shallow determination to only get to the basement and the lack of anything after rolled through her mind.  
“They’re fools.” Levi stated. “All of them. Like little kids the way they scream and flail.”  
The memory of Kenny against the tree, with his dying breath saying that every person had to be drunk on something rolled across their minds.  
Levi paused. “…Kana…”  
Kana looked up. “What is it?”  
“Dreams really are what keep us going, aren’t they? Even for us…”  
Kana lifted her hand to her stomach and her gaze saddened. “Yes. Every battle I face…the future is all I think of. It’s where I find my strength… my determination…thinking about the day when we can come home and forgive about the titans…a peaceful world our child can grow into…That’s what fuels me…”  
Levi looked down, lowering the syringe in his hand.

The titan climbed up onto the rooftop and made his way to Bert. It grabbed a hold of him and shoved him in his mouth, eating him bit by bit.  
Hanji, Levi, Floch, and Kana were standing a roof separate from the others. Floch shuddered and asked, “Captain… why?”  
Levi looked down at Erwin’s corpse. “Can’t we just let him go? His only choice was to become the devil. And he did it because we asked it of him. He was finally about to be free from this hell, but we were going to call him right back into it. Like you were. I think it’s time for us to let him rest.” He paused a moment and whispered, “Erwin… I know I said I’d take the beast titan down.. but it’s going to have to wait.”  
Hanji checked Erwin. “He’s… already dead.”  
“I see…” Levi whispered, looking up and over when the titan collapsed and all of the others rushed over to him, to help him as he rose up from the titan. The tears of sadness from just a few minutes before were now tears of joy and relief.


	142. The Basement

The top of the wall was silent. Armin hadn’t yet woken up yet.  
Kana stood and started to make her way across when Leah stopped her. She caught her hand. “Kana… I…”  
Kana pulled her hand away and gave her a warm look. “Don’t. If you apologize for what you did, it will piss me off. You fought me because of your love for Armin. You weren’t wrong. I wasn’t either.” She put her forehead to Leah’s and told her. “Don’t ever regret a choice you make. I was proud of you for standing up. Especially to me.”  
“I didn’t enjoy it.” Leah stated.   
“Me either.” Kana stated, mussing her hair. “Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.” She patted her shoulder before walking to where Levi sat alone. She sat down beside him and looked out over the horizon. From here, the little amount of the houses that were destroyed by the stones and the corpses left behind could all be seen. She whispered, “You’re tormenting yourself.”  
“Every single one of them died so that I could do one thing. And I couldn’t do it. He got away.”  
“Maybe… but we got through the battle.” Kana stated.  
“At the cost of the entire Survey Corps.”  
Kana looked down. “It’s a hard blow.” She reached over and took his hand. He immediately squeezed it back.  
He buried his head in his other hand. “I didn’t know what else to do… it was the best plan Erwin could come up with. All of them are dead and we are all that’s left.”  
Kana turned and rested her forehead on his shoulder, rubbing her hand up and down his back. “You did everything you could with what you had. You didn’t do anything wrong.”  
“That’s not what it feels like.” Levi whispered.  
“How are you two doing?”  
They turned and looked up as Hanji sat down. Kana gave a sad smile. “About as well as one could after that massacre.”  
Hanji rubbed Kana’s back. “You took some hard hits out there. You and the baby okay?”  
Kana nodded. “Yeah. No blows to the stomach. More to my head to be honest. Hurt like a bitch.”  
Levi commented. “You don’t have to tell me. I felt those.”  
Kana frowned. “Sorry.”  
Hanji looked at Levi and saw how glazed his eyes seem. “Levi.”  
He looked up at her.  
She confessed, “I… disagree with your decision to save Armin instead of Erwin. But… I’ll respect it. And we can’t undo it now. All we can do is more forward.”  
“Yeah, I know, four-eyes.” Levi stated simply. “I know that more than anyone.” He turned away and sighed.  
Hanji stood back up and mussed Kana’s hair. “Take care of him, Kana.”  
Kana smirked a bit as she walked away and she scooted back to his side. She leaned against him, but the feelings that were coming through to her, she didn’t have an easy way to mend. This wasn’t something she could fix with words. She squeezed and kissed his shoulder. Just like always… she would take care of him until he was better.  
He whispered, “I’m glad you’re both safe.”  
Kana’s gaze softened. “I’m glad you made it back from the other side of the wall. Selfishly… their lives in exchange for yours…I’m okay with that price.”  
He looked at her and kissed her forehead. “I know you are…”

When Armin suddenly sat up, Leah gasped and threw her arms around him. “Armin!” She buried her face into his neck and tears started spilling down her face. “I’m so happy… I’m so glad you’re okay…”  
“So he’s up.”   
Leah looked over as Kana and Levi walked up. Leah looked down, her lavender eyes filled with guilt.  
Armin asked. “What’s going on? I don’t remember anything…”  
Levi crossed his arms. “I doubt you would.”  
Eren, Mikasa, and Leah all avoided eye contact. Levi raised a signal flare and fired it off. “Fill him in. Tell him everything and don’t hold back.”

Armin’s eyes were side, shock filling them.  
Levi asked, “So. You understand then?”  
“You’re telling me… the only surviving members of the survey corps are us here? Us… 13?”  
Jean nodded. “For now… yes. It’s been four hours sice the battle ended. We spent it all looking for survivors… but there were none.”  
Armin was slowly repeating everything back. “And… the gate to Zhinganshina is sealed. You assume that Reiner, the Beast titan, and another titan have all fled. You successfully captured Bertolt. When… both Commander Erwin and I were on the brink of death, there was a disagreement about who should receive the injection…But… I turned into a titan and… _ate_ Bertolt…” He quickly chugged the canteen of water and took a deep breath. He asked, “Why did you choose _me_? Wouldn’t anyone look at the situation and decide to bring the Commander back to life? Captain! Why did you give the injection to me?”  
Levi clicked his tongue and kicked Eren’s leg. “I said to tell him everything.”  
They all looked down.  
Leah confessed. “It… was because of us. We… threatened him for the injection.”  
Armin’s eyes widened. “Leah… you?”  
Leah nodded and dipped her head. “I did. But I don’t regret it. I’ll accept whatever punishmet I have to.”  
Eren nodded. “We all will.”  
Hanji assured, “Your insubordination will of course be punished. But this goes far beyond military discipline.”  
“Of course.” Leah agreed.  
Levi looked away. “…that said… in the end, it was I who chose you. Or rather…I chose this place and time for Erwin’s death.”  
“But I don’t understand…” Armin stated. “There’s no way you could let the commader die. If commader Erwi is gone, then we… what do we do now…?”  
Hanji interjected. “I also think the injection should have been given to Erwi. But Erwin himself entrusted that decision to Levi and Levi chose you. There’s nothing more to say. Except that on your shoulders now rest the weight of Erwin Smith’s life and the power of the titans. That is why you live now, no matter what anyone else says. We’ll be expecting you to contribute even more to humanity, Armin.”  
Armin was trembling. “I’m supposed to be Commander Erwin’s replacement? That’s… absurd…”  
Levi corrected, “Don’t misunderstand. You could never replace Erwin.”  
Armin looked down.  
He continued, “But, it is true that you have a power that no human has. Got that? Don’t let us regret this. Not me.” He put his hands on Leah and Eren’s heads. “Not them. Not anyone. Not yourself. Make regrets impossible. That is your mission.”  
Hanji sighed. “As Erwin’s successor as Commander of the Survey Corps, I guess we’re in the same boat. It just means that both of us need to prepare fo whatever comes next.”  
Armin nodded. “Okay.”  
Hanji stood to her feet. “Now the. If you’re alright, Armin, I say we get going. Demi, Kana, Eren, Levi, and I will finish the Survey. The rest of you stand watch from the walls.” She looked at Eren. “You haven’t lost the key, have you?”  
“No.” Eren answered. “I have it.”

Kana and Demi walked a ways back from Levi, Hanji, and Eren who was leading the way. Kana looked at Demi and asked, “Hey. Were you really going to stab me?”  
“Yep.” Demi responded simply. “I was debating between stabbing you or cutting you off at your kneecaps.”  
Kana rolled her eyes. “You were being nicer than me. I was thinking worse.”  
“I was thinking of the most painful thing I could do without hurting the baby. I’m not that twisted.” Demi told her.  
“I noticed when you threw me like a fucking ragdoll by the neck.” Kana told her. She put her arms up behind her head. “We have a weird fucking friendship. I’m actually comforted that we both had the same mentality.”  
Demi smirked. “I thought the same thing actually. When you blasted me with that wave of energy, I thought you looked pretty badass.” She nudged her friend. “You’re gonna grow one hell of a titan killer in there.”  
“Yeah. I’ll raise them to use you for target practice.” Kana stated.  
Hanji commented, “Looks like the fire didn’t come this far. Good thing.”  
Eren came to a stop in front of a house that was completely buried under rubble.  
Levi asked, “Is this it?”  
Eren nodded. “Yeah.”  
Hanji clapped her hands. “Let’s get to work unburying it.”  
Kana started to step forward with the others to help, but Levi stopped in front of her and put his arm up. “We have enough hands. You rest.”  
Kana sighed, but her gaze softened. “Really?”  
Levi shot her a look. “Now that the battle for Humanity is over, you’re back to minimal duty. That’s an order. Argue and you’ll face punishment like the others.”  
Kana smirked and sighed, reluctantly finding a piece of rubble to sit on and wait.  
After a while, they finally uncovered the cellar door.

They made their way down the stairs.  
Upon reaching the door, Eren pulled the key from around his neck and placed it in the lock. His eyes widened when the key didn’t fit and he withdrew it. “This key… doesn’t go to this door…”  
Levi rolled his eyes and pulled Eren back. “Move. I’ll open it.” He kicked the edge of the door and busted it fully open and the pieces fell off the hinges.  
Kana giggled. _That_ was her fiancé.  
Inside, it was a completely normal room. A desk, a cupboard full of normal medicines.  
Levi read, “Hmm… if these labels are accurate these are just widely available medications.”  
Hanji was digging through books on the shelves. “These are just medical books…At first glance, this just looks like a typical doctor’s laboratory. It’s almost as if the room is telling us there’s nothing suspicious here.”  
Levi added, “I doubt he would have left anything forbidden just laying around for the interior MPs to find.”  
Demi, Kana, and Eren began sifting around the little room. They shuffled around in silence until Demi knelt down. “Hey, Eren. There’s a keyhole here. Maybe this is the one for the key?”  
Eren was able to open the drawer with the key, but when he pulled it out, there was nothing in there. “Nothing…”  
Levi leaned in. “Look closer. It’s a false bottom.” Levi pushed on the edge of it and the bottom tipped.  
Eren reached in and removed it. Below it was 3 books.  
Hanji stated, “This smells like peppermi oil and charcoal. They’ve been treated to keep moisture and bugs away.” She went quiet for a moment. “Three books…”  
Levi stated, “These must be what we’re looking for.”  
Eren took a deep breath. “What could… my father have wanted to show me?” He opened the cover of the first book. When he did, there was a panting on the inside.  
Hanji asked, “Is this a portrait?”  
Demi’s eyes widened. “No. I’ve seen one of these before. I… don’t remember…but I feel like I’ve seen one…”  
Eren flipped over the image and there was a message scrawled on it. It read:

This is not an illustration. It is an imprint of reflected light, left on a special kind of paper. It is called a photograph. I cam from beyond the walls, where humanity enjoys a refined existence. Humanity **has not perished**.


	143. The History Beyond the Walls

“There’s something oddly satisfying about seeing you in jail.” Kana teased.  
Demi glared at the red Slayer from between the bars of the cell. She had her elbows up over her head and a coy look on her face. “Enjoy it while it lasts. Why are you back down here again anyway?”  
Kana groaned. “Cause I’m so fucking bored.” She dropped down on the chair outside her cell and put her hands on her stomach. “Levi won’t let me do anything and all the officers have been busy all day every day since we returned with those books.  
From the next cell over, Leah leaned her head against the bars and agreed, “I still… find it hard to believe that all of it’s true…”  
Kana sighed. “Well, mom confirmed it. But that’s all she would do. Just confirm. She couldn’t give me any more details.”  
Demi fanned her hands. “She’s still staying silent? Why?”  
“Dunno.” Kana stated. For a moment though, she remembered the memory she accidentally saw of her father being killed. “Just keeps saying kings orders.”  
Demi groaned. “I’m gonna die in here….! Hey Kana, do me a favor and just let me in Eren’s cell.”  
Armin, who was sitting considerably closer to Leah’s sell gave her a look. “Don’t do it, Kana. The captain said to specifically keep them separated.”  
Kana snickered. “Oh I know. I told him that would be her best punishment. Said she wouldn’t really feel it if she got to sit with ERen the whole time. I like watching her suffer.”  
Demi glared and started swinging her arm. “You rat bastard! C’mere! I’m gonna yank all your hair out!”  
Kana laughed and stepped away. “You should have thought about that before turning on Levi.”  
Demi rolled her eyes. She started to say something else when there was suddenly a scream erupting from Eren’s cell. Demi shot over to the edge of hers – not like it would do any good – and demanded, “What’s happening? Eren?”  
Armin trotted over to his cell and asked, “Eren? Are you okay?”  
Kana walked over to see the boy’s face was covered in tears. He asked, “Where am I? why have I been put…”  
Kana’s brows furrowed in agigitation. “You turned on your own captain. To be honest, you guys are getting the easiest punishment. Normally it would be treachery.”  
Demi growled, “Get the stick out of your ass, Kana. Eren are you okay?”  
Eren looked up. “Oh… right… yeah… I’m okay, Demi. Sorry to worry you. I just woke from a dream… or…no… rather a memory. Everything in that book… it was true after all. I was connected to my old mans’ memories. I saw what he did…so the titan… was you… Dina…”  
Armin asked, “Did you remember more then?”  
When Eren nodded, Armin sighed and stepped into his room, going to the desk in the corner. There was already a stack of paper from what Armin had already written of Eren’s memories he received from his father.  
Kana shut the gate behind him and stated, “I’ll let you two be.” She headed up the stairs.  
Demi looked over and even though she couldn’t see inside, she listened to their words. 

“The owl called it… the curse of Ymir… It’s because they say Ymir, the founding titan, died thirteen years after first awakening to her powers. And on one’s power can exceed hers. So when that time closes in, your body weakens… as the vessel finishes serving it’s purpose.” Eren recalled.  
Armin looked over at him. “That was another memory that matched up with your dad’s notes, right? When you consider that the Reiss family passed the crown every thirteen years… that seems to confirm it.”  
Armin looked down. “So… I have thirteen years. And Eren… “  
Eren whispered. “I have eight left.”  
Demi looked down. Eight years…left to live…?  
Leah squeezed the bars of her cell. She didn’t want it to be true… but denying it would change reality.  
Eren looked down. “If someone who holds the power of one of the nine titans dies without anyone inheriting that power… then the power of that titan is suddenly inherited by a baby belonging to the subjects of Ymir. Distance plays no factor in this at all and neither do blood relations.”

The next day, Demi looked over when Kana came back down. Demi laughed, “Do you just want your own cell? I mean how bored can you be?”  
Kana glared at her. “For the record. I have another reason for being down here.”  
Demi blinked and started to ask when Hanji and Levi came down the steps after her. Hanji laughed, “She’s been hiding from her mom all week. She refuses to talk to her until she gives her answers. The poor old woman is bound to crack.”  
Demi looked snickered and looked down when Levi started undoing the lock on her cell. “What are you guys doing?”  
Levi pushed the cell door open and carried on to the next, to Eren’s. “Get out.”  
Demi licked her lips. “Oh letting us off easy now?”  
Eren asked, “There’s still ten days left…”  
Levi stated, “You’re done. Making an example of people through discipline, even if it’s for show, is important to any organization. Even a thirteen person organization. Still, that doesn’t mean we can ignore what’s going on around us.”  
Hanji added as they carried on to the next cell. “Don’t worry, we’ve talked to general Zackley. We asked what message we were sending by putting the heroes who took down the armored and collosal titans in jail.”  
Demi whistled. “Oh so we got a free ride on the pity wagon.”  
Kana glared at her. “No one wants you on a wagon, Demi.”  
Demi wrapped her arm around Kana’s neck and started noogy-ing her. “What was that? I couldn’t hear it over the sound of me not giving a fuck.”  
Eren stepped out and laughed at them. “Do you two ever stop?”  
“No.” They answered.  
Hanji smiled as well and then added, “Plus. The officers you disobeyed were the idiots who let the armored and beast titans get away.”  
“But – “  
Levi interjected, “Meaning the Corps can’t afford to punish you right now.”  
Hanji sighed. “Yeah. You know if I’ve ever found myself at a loss… this would be it.”  
Once they were all out of their cells, Levi ordered, “All of you hurry and get cleaned up.”  
Eren asked, “Are we off somewhere?”  
He answered, “We have an audience. Her majesty the Queen has come to Trost district.”

When they pushed open the door, Historia had just sat down the letter she was reading that Hanji had given her and looked over at them. She smiled and stood.  
Several of them awkwardly bowed a bit and spoke, “Your Majesty…”  
Historia fanned her hands. “S-stop it. It’s not even official yet.” After a moment, she looked down. “I heard the battle was awful… and I was just watching the southern sky from inside the walls…”  
Armin told you. “You have an important job, too. You have to survive.”  
Historia smiled at this. “I’m glad the battle… and the news… didn’t change you guys.”  
Eren looked down. “It’s just because we haven’t felt it yet…”  
Hanji started collecting paperwork up. “Well then… how about we get going?”   
As they started to shuffle out, Kana felt a hand wrap around hers and she paused to see the Queen smiling at her so brightly. “Kana.” She whispered. “Hanji told me. Congratulations to both you and the Captain.”  
Kana’s blush was the same color as her hair. “Thanks…”  
She giggled. “I don’t think it’s fair I didn’t get to find out with everyone else. I’m the only member of the squad who was left out.”  
Kana frowned. “I’m sorry. But you had just announced your title and we didn’t want to ask for your time.”  
“Well I want to know when you have it, okay? I want to come congratulate you just like any other member of Squad Levi.”  
Kana smiled. “Whatever you say, your Majesty.”

**  
Over 1,800 years ago, Ymir Fritz, the progenitor the Eldians, made a contract with the Devil of All Earth and acquired the power of the Titans.  
Using the power of the Titans, Ymir cultivated the wastelands, built the roads, and constructed the bridgets, bringing abundance to the land and wealth to the Eldian people.  
Ymir’s power built the Eldian Empire and when she died, it was divided among the Nine Titans. The Empire then brought ruin to the great and ancient nation of Marley and became the conqueror of the continent.  
Now possessing the power to become Titans, the Subjects of Ymir (the Eldian people) oppressed and subjugated other races for the next 1,700 years, even conducting ethnic cleansing.  
The Eldian Empire had grown arrogant after 1,700 years, eventually allowing Marley to work from within it and instigate a civil war, causing it to grow weak. Marley was also able to acquire seven of the Nine Titans, winning the Great Titan War about a hundred years ago and defeating Eldia.  
While Fritz, the 145th Eldian King, had inherited the Founding Titan with it’s ability to rule over and control all other Titans, he made the decision to renounce war, moving to the remote island of Paradis along with some other Eldians. There, he built three lays of walls and hid inside them.  
Meanwhile the Eldians who held out and were left behind on the continent were segregated into internment zones, forced to live under Marley’s tyrannical rule.  
Through help from the Owl, an individual working against the Marleyan government from inside, an underground anti-establishment organization on the continent known as the Eldia Restorationists had expanded their influence in secret and were beginning to make plans to take back the Founding Titan, which had been brought inside the Walls and return it to the ‘True Royal Family’.  
Two members of the Restorationists, Dina Fritz, a descendant of the ‘True Royal Family, who had refused to flee to the island, and Grisha Yeager were wed and gave birth to a son, Zeke.  
Meanwhile, with plans of it’s own to retake the Founding Titan, the Marleyan government began recruiting “Marley Warriors” from Eldian internment zones around the continent.  
They collected Subjects of Ymir both male and female from ages five to seven. The goal of this program was to select suitable vessels for the seven Titans controlled by the Marleyan government.  
Zeke had been sent to be a Marley Warrior, and around the time he turned seven, he informed on his parents to the Marleyan government. All of the Eldian Restorationists who were then caught were sent to Paradis.  
**

Several people were all sitting in a large room. At the front, Historia, Zackley, and another leader were sitting at a large desk. Tables were set up across from it where the rest of the Survey Corps were sitting, facing said desk. Around the outside of the room, other tables were set up where important officials with high enough rank to be let in on the information sat.  
Zackley began speaking, “The individuals in this room are currently the only ones who know the existence of these three books:  
The early life of Grisha Yeager.  
The extent of our knowledge of Titans and their History.  
Information about the World Beyond the Walls.  
We owe their retrieval to the 13 soldiers here today and the 199 who are not. Their heroics deserve to be praised for millennia to come. A place to do that, as well as to bury the fallen, will be set aside at a later date. But today, I would like to share information here in the presence of the Queen and develop a joint strategy for the future. Survey Corps Commander, Hanji Zoe. What do you make of the situation?”  
Hanji stood. “In exchange for the loss of many heroes, including Erwin smith, we, the Survey Corps, were able to successfully retake Wall Maria, defeat the Collosal Titan, and take it’s power. However, we humans living inside the walls continue to be in an extremely dangerous situation. We would count ourselves lucky if the titans were our only enemies. Sadly, the true enemy we have been fighting all along… is humanity. Civilization. Or, if you will… the world.”  
The words seemed to linger in Kana’s mind for several moments for some reason. Their enemy was the rest of humanity. Funny, the irony when considering that the purpose of a Slayer was to –   
Kana’s eyes widened. Her gaze shifted to her mother who was sitting beside her. Their crimson eyes locked together for the longest time and finally Meria looked down with defeat.  
Hanji continued talking, “According to these notes, we are subjects of Ymir, a special race from the nation kown as Eldia who are capable of becoming titans. These subjects of Ymir once ruled the world and could possibly rule it again. That is why the world attempts to eradicate us.” Hanji continued, “The owl, which owned the titan before Grisha, told him that the 145th King’s final words were ‘If Eldia decides to raze the world once more, we will perish as we are meant to. It is pointless to try to take the founding titan from me. I have made a vow with the founding titan, renouncing all war’. Aparently he agrees with Marley that Eldia should be destroyed and he wanted to take us down with him. From there, Grisha Yeager took the titan from the owl and used it to take the _founding_ titan from the king of the walls and entrusted it to his son, Eren. But. While Mr. Kruger – the Owl – didn’t know what the vow renouncing war mean, we now know what it is. The true power of the founding titan can only be used if it resides inside someone from the royal bloodline. However, if the founding titan does reside anyone of royal blood, they will be consumed by the will of the 145th king, leaving them with no choice but to take their own life. I dare say that this is what the vow renouncing war does.”  
Kana slid a piece of paper in front of her mother with a scribble. _Our job is to protect Humanity._  
Meria stared at her daughter, her lifeless crimson eyes betraying no emotion.  
Kana scribbled again. _Our original home was on that continent, wasn’t it?_  
No answer.  
Angrily she wrote. _**Will we have to fight the other Slayers to protect the people inside these walls?**_  
Meria slowly took the pencil from Kana’s hand and wrote: _The Eldians are considered a threat to Humanity and the Slayers lay in wait for them to make the first move._  
Kana’s eyes widened.  
Zackley spoke. “I would say that the only possible way to resist such a powerful enemy would be to use the true power of the Founding titan to active the wall titans. But… you’re saying that it would be impossible so long as we have this vow renouncing war.”  
“No.” Hanji argued. “In the past, Eren has controlled pure titans in order to escape perilous situations. We still don’t’ know why he was able to use that power. But there is a possibility that even Eren, who is not from the royal bloodline, is able to use the founding titan.”  
A moment later Eren suddenly shouted and shot from his seat. “Could it be!?”  
Hanji turned to look at him. “You startled me. What’s the matter all of a sudden?”  
Eren stood, dumbfounded as though at a loss for words.  
Zackley ordered, “Continue, our titan.”  
Demi looked at Eren in confusion, but she didn’t say anything. She could sense the rush of shock and surprise through him, but as soon as it came, it faded immediately to worry.  
Finally, he dropped back down into his seat. “It’s nothing. Sorry for causing a disturbance.”  
Hanji looked down. “Oh, alright. I see.”

The meeting dragged on.  
One of the Military Police argued, “The walls will fall into chaos if we were make this public!”  
“That’s right. Even we aren’t able to fully assess the scale of what’s going on here.”  
Pixis asked, “So we should deceive the people again? You’re suggesting that we keep the people ignorant and domesticated, just as King Reiss did? If that’s the case, what cause were we fighting for when we snatched the crown from his head?”  
Historia looked up. “We will make an announcement. We will be returning the memories King Reiss took from the people a century ago back to the people a century later. That’s all. We are all people of the walls. We have a shared fate. We must now unite as one and work together.”


	144. Honor

Word finally began spreading inside of the walls. An entire newspaper was filled with details that the military had learned. It was a noble act, to want to share the information with the rest of the Eldians, but just as predicted, not everyone was happy about the news. There were many different reactions rippling throughout the walls.  
Kana sighed as she was working on washing dishes. Her eyes were glazed over, remembering the conversation with her mother and the truth of their enemies. As if the rest of humanity being the enemy wasn’t bad enough…the rest of the Slayers would be defending them. Her, Tsuki, Demi, and Leah. Four Slayers. How many were there? How many could they even fight against? How long would they even have before the Slayers attacked.  
Her gaze went back to Crys… who had returned and hadn’t come back. But that alone was terrifying. If she told them that the four of them were here… they could come attacking any time. And they would now know there was only four of them.  
Kana leaned her hands on the counter as she started to feel light headed. If they made a mistake…if the Slayers found them as an enemy… there would be no hope…  
On top of that, there was still her freak of nature clone to worry about.  
How the hell could they survive?  
Kana brought her hands to her face and lowered slowly down to her knees as she began to sob.

“Those man-eating titans that menace humanity so… are actually humans. They are subjects of Ymir, a race with whom we share a common ancestry.”  
Hanji and Levi were meeting with the same newspaper writers who had helped reveal the Survey Corps as being innocent when the Military police had accused them.  
The lead writer continued, “Our king built these walls a hundred years ago… then used the power of the titans to alter the peoples’ memories, making them believe that Humanity had disappeared beyond the walls. But.. humanity hadn’t disappeared. They call us, the subjects of Ymir, a race of devils. Our enemies will begin an invasion of this land in the near future under the pretext of acquiring its resources. And the attacks that began five years ago, spearheaded by the Collosal Titan, were a part of that.” He looked up at Hanji as Levi sat down at the table. “The article is already out and circulating but… would you vouch for that story’s authenticity?”  
Hanji stated, “At the very least, it matches up with the questions and doubts we’ve had all this time. I don’t want to believe it. Of course I don’t.” She looked at the other man. “so… what’s the reaction?”  
“Hard to say.” He answered. “Some are simply accepting it. Some let out a laugh. Some who still object to military rule are coming up with conspiracies to spread. The people are in a state of confusion, just as you have feared.”  
Hanji sipped her tea. “Yes. It was unavoidable. Our job is to survey and report. We let the taxpayers decide what to do with that information. In that, at least, things are better now.”  
The man nodded his head. “I’m very proud of all of you. As somone who lives inside the same walls as you… and as a fellow working man.”  
Hanji looked down. “Thanks.”  
Levi smugly commented, “Yeah so maybe next time you can put the Survey Corps in a better light.”  
He chuckled and then asked, “What is… going to happen next? We’ve looked at the titans with fear… with hate… and with the wish in our hearts that they would vanish from this world. But now we find that people out in the world have seen us not as humans but as harmful monstrosities and that means… if we have to experience that hell again, it will not end until we’re annihilated.” He lowered his head, his hands shaking around his tea cup.  
His fellow writer reached up and rubbed his back. “Hey sir, it’s not as bad as…”  
“We don’t know yet.” Hanji confessed. “We need more information before we can determine that.”  
Levi opened his mouth to start to support Hanji’s words when he felt the overwhelming sense of forboding and helplessness. His chest felt tight and he felt just…sad. He stood up suddenly.  
Hanji asked, “What’s wrong, Levi?”  
Levi barely glanced at her. “I have to go. I apologize. You can handle this, can’t you, four-eyes?”  
“Of course.” She stated but worriedly asked, “Is everything okay?”  
Levi fanned his hand and hurried out the door.

Kana continued to hold her face as she cried into her hands. For some reason the hopelessness was hitting her so hard. Even though Mijore wasn’t like other Slayers… none of them would be easy to beat. And with almost all the Survey Corps gone… who could stand against them besides the four of them?   
Was Mijore supporting the other Slayers as well?  
At a bare minimum she knew that Mijore, Crys, and the King would be enemies. But based on what her mother said… she knew there was more. There must have been an army. An army that would die to defend the very people who wanted to kill all of them. She gripped her shirt. If it came down to it, could they even win…? How many would have to –   
“Kana.”  
Kana looked up just as Levi dropped down beside her. He was panting like he’d run a mile but despite that, he wrapped his arms around her and carefully pulled her into his chest. He cupped the back of her head and scolded her, “You shouldn’t be thinking about things like that. For once in your life… leave the worrying to us for a bit, okay?”  
“They don’t even know…we don’t even know… how many Slayers… how many enemies we’ll face…” Kana whispered.  
“We’ll prepare as much as we can. But this isn’t for you to worry about. You’re officially on leave, which means right now, you’re not a soldier.” He leaned back and cupped her cheeks. “Right now your only priority is being a mother, understand? We’ll determine the fate of our people with our own actions.”  
Kana leaned her head back into his chest and closed her eyes. “It’s scary… how much bigger our fight has just become…”  
He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her forehead. “Come on. Let’s get you in bed and resting for a bit. Take your mind off of it.” He helped her to her feet.  
“It’s… really hard to…” Kana confessed.  
“There’s plenty of other things for you to worry about.” Levi scolded, walking with her to the bedroom.  
“Like what?”  
He opened the door. “Have you thought about names?”  
Kana blinked and then blushed and looked away. “I… have actually. I… had an idea.”  
“So did I.” He told her. “Let’s hope they’re the same…”

Several days later, a large group of people were all gathered inside of the courthouse.  
Tsuki and Jean, Kana, and several others were standing around in their uniforms. Leah giggled and poked at Kana’s tummy. “How long until your belly starts really showing? You put that jacket on and it goes away again.”  
Kana smirked and swatted her hand away. “Stop pointing out my stomach.”  
“Hey! Heroes of the walls!”  
They looked over as a familiar face walked up. Hitch, who had helped them to save Eren and Historia.  
Tsuki smiled. “You came!”  
Hitch smiled back. “I’m here to see all of you get your medals. I did play a big role in this revolution you know.”  
Jean frowned and looked down. “Hitch. About Marlowe… he was brave until the end.”  
Her gaze saddened.  
Jean nudged Floch. “Right? Tell her. You were there.”  
Floch looked up at her. “Marlowe Freudenberg was a fresh emergency recruit, just like me. But regardless, he did a good job of unifying us all. It seemed hopeless out there. The Survey Corps was on the verge of being wiped out. Even when we were all terrified to the poin of being useless, he was the one guy who never stopped encouraging the rest. He was an amazing guy.”  
Hitch swallowed hard. “I know. I think..that’s why he never listened to a word I said.”  
Floch continued, “At the very end though… he must have regretted ever going there.”  
Her eyes widened and she quickly turned away. “Thanks. I’ll be the one laughing if any of you mess up at the ceremony.”  
Jean glared at Floch. “Hey! Why the hell did you go and say that?”  
Floch crossed his arms behind his back. “Well. Someone has to tell the truth, right?” He shot his glare directly at Armin.  
Leah tensed up, but Kana gripped her arm. When her friend looked up at her, Kana stated, “I normally wouldn’t tell you to stand down… but this is an important day and an important memory. Let’s not ruin it.”  
Leah looked down. “You’re right.”  
Armin looked up. “I know that you desperately wanted to revive Commander Erwin.”  
“That’s right.” He snapped. “I thought the Commander was the right choice, not you. But I wasn’t the only one. It’s all of us. Everyone who read the report wondered what it wasn’t Erwin.”  
Armin glanced around and he suddenly felt inferior and his chest ached.  
Kana felt a prickle of her spine. A cold ache in her chest. Pain, questioning,…worry… She looked quickly around and her gaze went to the pillar that wasn’t far from them. She could just barely see his shoulder from this side and her eyes narrowed on Floch. She had just told Leah not to act, but she was not going to let someone question Levi’s judgement and make him feel this way.  
Leah glared at Floch. “You don’t know the first thing about Armin!”  
He fanned his hand. “No, I don’t. I’m not his childhood friend. I’m not his friend at all. But I _do_ know why he was picked. Because you all…and Captain Levi…allowed your personal feelings to get the better of you, took the injection for yourselves, and made an irrational decision. In other words, you couldn’t throw away what was – “  
Floch let out a cry of pain and then suddenly bent over, letting out a gagging noise. Kana stood next to him, her heel digging into his foot and her fist in his gut. His body went limp, draped on her arm. She glared hatefully down at him. “I will never get tired of knocking the shit out of you.”  
Leah gasped, “Kana you just told me – “  
“I’m a hypocrite.” She told her, tossing Floch to the floor.  
Floch trembled and sat up slowly. “You all… deep down inside… you must always think you’re right. That’s why… you never gave up… like little kids who… won’t listen to reason.” He unsteadily got back to his feet.   
As soon as he started to open his mouth again, Jean interjected, “That’s enough Floch. Do you understand we’re about to hold a memorial for our fallen comrades? Don’t dredge up things that are in the past.”  
Floch glared at him “A memorial? For who? Medals? For what? You’d better tell the truth to the Survey Corps recruits coming to fill the ranks. Otherwise you’re going to have cowards like me joining you by accident! What are you planning to do now, without Commander Erwin? I may be nothing more than fodder, my purpose to be expendable, but even a piece of fodder… should have the right to call it as he sees it!”  
Armin looked down.  
Leah shouted, “That’s enough! Go away!”  
“Floch is right.” Armin whispered suddenly.  
They all looked at him. He whispered. “Commander Erwin should have survived. If there’s anyone who can get us out of this situation… it’s him, not me.”  
Kana’s eyes were trembling. No. Levi did _not_ make a mistake.  
Leah cupped Armin’s shoulders. “Why are you so sure of that? We can’t predict the future.” Her hands slid up and cupped his cheeks. “You still want to see the ocean right? And everything beyond the walls?”  
Armin’s eyes began to spark back to life. “The ocean…”  
Leah smiled. “Right! You still need to see it! We don’t know anything! Those other things you talked about. Flaming water and frozen plains! Snowfields on sand! There’s an endless number of possibilities!”  
Armins eyes trembled and finally began to light up again. “Leah. You’re right. We have to…so…I’m…glad…”  
Leah’s gaze softened. “Good.” She leaned forward and kissed him lovingly.  
Kana glanced over as Levi finally walked towards them. “Hey, brats. It’s time to line up.”

They all fell in line on the steps of the courthouse while all of the people who came to see them were in lines throughout the rest of the building, watching with admiration. Queen Historia went to each one of them, putting the Survey Corps medal around their necks and in exchange, each of them kissed her hand.  
For some reason, when the medal was placed around Eren’s neck, he froze in place. His eyes were wide and he responded to no one for the longest time before Historia repeated his name.  
Demi narrowed her eyes. Something bizarre was suddenly coming through their connection. Emotions she couldn’t really read.  
Just what went through his head in that moment?


	145. The Ocean

It wasn’t long before the first snow of winter was upon them. With it expeditions and advancement were put on hold. Even the Trost Disticts new titan hammer came to a stop. It actually felt as though the world outside the walls had gone totally silent. No attacks came, no massacres filled the minds of the people.  
Stohess focused on rebuilding after the massive destruction caused by Mijore in the weeks prior. Trost, now supported by Reeves and the Survey Corps started to once again flourish.  
All branches of the military worked together to plan the course of action that would be taken in response to the information they’d gained. And to prepare for that, for the next few months, the Survey Corps focused on cleaning up inside Wall Maria.  
Once the snow melted, they announced that they had completely rid the walls of Titans.  
After that, work began on paving the main road out from Trost and flowers had finally begun to bloom again.  
Just five months after Wall Maria was taken back, citizens of Zhinganshina received permission to resettle. With the elevators active once again, it was time for the Survey Corps to take the first expedition beyond the walls in six years.

“The answer is no.” Levi cursed, following after Kana as she marched down the hallway of the Military headquarters.  
Kana ignored him. “I already know what your answer is but I’m not asking you.” She came to a stop in front of a familiar door and knocked.  
“We are not arguing this.” Levi demanded, but like always, he knew that his stubborn red-headed flower was going to do whatever the hell she wanted.  
When Hanji’s voice came from the other side of the door and granted her permission to enter, she pushed the door open and smiled. “Commander Hanji, good morning!”  
Hanji looked up from her desk and screamed, lunging from it and rushing up. “Kana! You’re so big! Oh my gosh! What are you, eight months?”  
Kana giggled. “Yep, just about there.”  
Hanji immediately knelt down and pressed her ear to Kana’s belly while rubbing her hands on it. “Hello little one…!”  
Kana rolled her eyes and glared upward. She fanned her hands. “Why does everyone feel the need to do this?”  
Levi glared at Hanji. “Wait till you ask her why the hell we’re here. She won’t listen to me so you need to talk some damn sense into her.”  
Hanji jumped up. “Oh. What can I help you with?”  
Levi galred at her choice of words.  
Kana rested her hands on her belly and stated, “I want to go tomorrow.”  
Hanji’s expression dropped. Levi glared. “See? She’s lost her damn mind.”  
Kana glared back at him and then turned back to Hanji. “I know, I know. But hear me out. I was a part of all the missions to get us here. And there hasn’t been a titan sighting for a while. You said yourself that you think most of the titans are gone. I know I’m going to be a nuisance but if what Eren says he saw is true, I want to be there. I want to see it with you guys.”  
“I told her that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. But she’s not interested in hearing a damn word I say so you tell her, shitty four-eyes.” Levi growled.  
Hanji told her, “There’s no confirmation that there _aren’t_ still titans out there. And we’re going to be taking a smaller unit so we can’t use the long distance formation as well as normal to avoid them. It’s incredibly risky.”  
Levi agreed. “There you have it, Kana. The answer is no.”  
Kana shushed him. “She didn’t say no, yet.”  
Levi gaped. “How much more no can you get?”  
Hanji glanced between them, resting her chin in her hand. “If Eren _is_ right then we could probably get there within a couple days… With so few of us, supplies won’t be an issue…”  
Levi’s eyes widened. “Hey… shitty four-eyes… you aren’t – “  
Hanji held her hand out. “She has a point, Levi. She played a major role in us getting here. She has just as much right to go as anyone else.”  
Levi’s glare intensified. “Tell her no. Now.”  
Hanji looked back at Kana and stated, “You won’t be able to wear your gear, you know?”  
Kana nodded. “I know.”  
“Hey hey hey…!” Levi growled at both of them.  
Kana turned and took his hands. “Rivi please…! After all the hard work we’ve put in, I want to go! I know it’s going to be a pain on all the rest of you, but I’ve earned my right to go. Please, _please_.”  
Levi continued to glare at her for several seconds before he shifted his glare to Hanji. Hanji shrugged her shoulders. “She is right. Since we sent the titans packing, I bet the Marleyans probably aren’t too quick to sending more prisoners here. There may not be any titans to worry about.”  
Levi sighed loudly and as soon as he did, Kana’s face brightened. “Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!!!”  
Levi put his hand on her head. “I didn’t say yes yet. There are conditions. You will _not_ leave my side. And you follow every order I give, do I make myself clear?”  
Kana was still smiling brightly. “Crystal clear!” She pulled him in and gave him an awkward pregnant lady hug.

 

The sun was high in the sky as the horses trotted along. They weren’t going at as fast of a pace as usual – for Kana’s sake. She appreciated it because riding a horse while pregnant was not the most comfortable experience. But she was too excited for what lay ahead to worry about it. Besides. Levi was doing enough worrying for the both of them. She laughed and yelled at him, “Stop looking at me like that.”  
Levi glared at her. “This is your fault.” His horse trotted close to hers and asked, “Are you okay? Do we need to slow down more?”  
Kana giggled and rubbed her round stomach. “No, I’m fine. Seriously.”  
Hanji trotted back to them and giggled, “It looks like I was right though. The titans inside of Wall Maria were the bulk of them.”  
“That’s a relief. Then we’ve culled most of them in just a few months…”  
They carried on for a while when a smoke signal went up from the front corner of the team. Tsuki called out, “A titan!”  
Jean commented, “One finally showed up.”  
Tsuki cheered, “Let’s go!”  
Levi slowed his horse to a stop next to Kana’s and they lingered at the crest of the hill, waiting for the all clear. It came shortly after when Tsuki trotted back to them. “You guys gotta see this.”  
They made their way over to the other side of the hill where the others were circling around a titan that was half buried in the ground. It’s arms and legs were too tiny to lift itself up so it had crawled so very slowly, almost at an imperceptible pace.  
Sasha stated, “It must have been trying to slowly crawl it’s way to the wall. It must have taken so long.”  
Tsuki pointed to the path behind it. “Look… even it’s own path is already covered in grass.”  
Hanji frowned and glanced at the others before she stated, “That’s… one of our compatriots… someone who was sent here as a prisoner. We must be close then. I’m sure of it.”

Not much further the grass slipped away, turning to dirt and sand. Eren looked up at the wall that formed a straight line down across the horizon. He stated, “This is where Eldian criminals were turned into titans. And past here…”  
They slowed the horses to a stop at the edge of a short cliff that overlooked the largest body of water any of them had ever seen.  
The Ocean.

After making their way around and to the closest shore, Armin was the first one to remove his shoes and trot into the shallow water. The foam of the sea lapped as his ankles and he found himself staring at it… as though it were a dream and he’d wake up.  
Leah slipped her shoes off as well and made her way to him. She found his hand and laced it into hers as she whispered, “It’s the ocean, Armin…”  
His voice quivered with emotion. “Yes… it is.”  
When Kana started to shift off her saddle, to get off the horse, Levi grumbled and quickly hopped off his first and walked over to her. “Slow down, dammit.”  
Kana giggled at him as she carefully slid down into his arms and he gently helped her down to her feet.  
Connie and Sasha already had their pant legs rolled up and were in the water, throwing it at each other and they cheered and screamed.  
Jean cupped some of it up and tried to drink it, only to let out a cry. “It’s so salty!”  
Tsuki laughed. “What? Is it really? It’s actually salty water?”  
Jean held out his cupped hands. “Here, try it.”  
She leaned into them and sipped some of the water out only to jump back and spit it out as fast as she could. “Oh crap, it is! You might even say it’s saltier than Demi…!”  
Tsuki was suddenly lifted up by the green Slayer and carried towards deeper water. “Guess who is getting the first dunk!” Demi sang, acting like she was going to throw Tsuki in.  
The blue Slayer let out a cry and spread her wings suddenly and took off away from Demi.  
Leah laughed and pointed her hand. “Tsuki, fly her out over the deep water and drop her!”  
Demi pointed a finger. “Don’t even think about it!”  
Hanji joined the others, kicking off her boots and rushing into the low levels of water. “I can’t believe this is really all salt water! Oh! What’s that! I see something!” She treaded further in.  
Levi scolded, “Watch out, Hanji. Don’t touch it, it could be poisonous.”  
But the Commander ignored him.  
Kana grinned at the others and lifted her leg, starting to work her boot off. Levi glared at her. “What are you doing?”  
Kana gave him a cynical look. “What. You didn’t think I was actually going to come out here just to see everyone else enjoy it, did you? I want to experience the sea myself, too.”  
Levi sighed. “Honestly.” He knelt down in the sand and held his hand out. “Here.” Kana grinned more as Levi pulled her boots off and then rolled her pant legs up enough they wouldn’t get wet. As soon as she was free, she started for the water, but he caught her arm. “Hold it. Stay put a moment.” Kana looked at him in confusion until she realized he was pulling his boots off as well. He cursed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. Who knows what filthy shit is in that water?”  
Kana giggled. “You don’t have to come in, too, if you don’t want to.”  
Levi glared at her and took her hand. “Like hell I don’t. Knowing your luck, you’d find something that would snatch you up and take you under.” They walked together into the shallow water, but he kept his eyes glued to where she was walking, making sure there wasn’t anything there. At one point, they kicked up a little sand and a school of tiny fish went scattering. Kana laughed.  
Armin leaned down and picked up a tiny shell. It was mostly white but the edges of it were almost a lavender color. He turned to Leah and placed it gently in her hands. “Here…for you. A… souvenier from our first trip to the ocean…”  
Leah’s eyes glistened. “Our first one. Because there will be many others.”  
Armin nodded. “That’s right.” He looked at Eren who was just staring out at the horizon. “See Eren? I was right. It’s so big a merchant could spend his whole life collecting salt and still not get it all…”  
“Yeah.” Eren agreed. “It’s so huge…”  
Demi walked up slowly next to him, but her gaze was clouded. He mumbled, “On the other side of the walls… is the ocean. And on the other side of the ocean… is freedom. That’s what I believed. But I was wrong. It’s enemies that are on the other side of the ocean. This is all…exactly as I saw in my old man’s memories.” He pointed out across the sea. “Those enemies on the other side of here. If we kill them all… does that mean… we’ll be free?”

Kana sighed as she sat down just under the lip of the little cliff above the shore. It provided just enough shade to keep her cool and she leaned back against the rocks. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, a smile on her lips.  
Levi glared at her. “You’ve already worn yourself out. I told you – “  
“Hush…” Kana teased. “I know… but… I couldn’t miss this.” She opened her eyes back up. The sun was setting, casting the sea in a fire red color, not that different from her hair. They had set up a campfire so they could rest for the night and head back first thing in the morning. “You could have described it to me a million ways and nothing would compare to seeing it first hand.”  
Levi looked back out at the water before sitting down next to her. She immediately nuzzled in closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder so he wrapped his arm around her waist. He agreed, “I suppose you’re right. It’s quite the sight.”  
Kana rubbed her stomach. “It’s the perfect place for a picnic, don’t you think?”  
Levi gaze down at her for several moments before his gaze softened and he kissed the top of her head. “It sure is.”

And just like that…

Four years passed in the blink of an eye.


	146. Reunion

The streets were lined with decorations and shouts and cheers of joy filled the air. The large buildings on either side of the roads were even filled with people who were leaning out and joining in the fun. Kids ran by, in groups as they chased around their care-free lifestyle. Even majority of the adults wore smiles on their faces as they traveled from vendor to vendor. Carts lined the roads of people selling their goods – hoping to make a dime off the joyful event. 

On a branching road, between two buildings and off the main road where the vendors and crowds were, two people sat upon a stack of barrels and crates next to a dumpster. The womans’ white blond hair was mixed with streaks of darker color. The majority of the bottom half of her head was cut down to a thinner length and just the top of her hair was longer with gentle waves as it curled back down to chin length. Her vivid blue eyes were lit with the same glow that they always were.  
  


Beside her, the man was taller, broader, but still on the lean side. He had just a little stubble down his jaw line and his hair, which had grown out was brushed back out of his face. 

The woman wrapped her arms around her slender legs and pulled them into her chest. Both of them were wearing full black clothes in an effort not to draw attention to themselves. She looked down. “There’s a lot of people here.” 

The guy rubbed his hand up and down her back. “I was thinking about that, too. A surprising amount of kids, too.” 

She glanced back at him, her frown deepening before she reached up and brushed her hand along the brick wall. “Some of these people are also like you guys. This is the internment zone, right?” 

He nodded curtly. “Yeah… which means _most_ of them are like us.” When she looked down, he did as well and commented, “What sucks…is there isn’t much we can do about it. Whether or not we help, Eren is going to do it anyway.” When her blue eyes grew more and more somber, he suddenly straightened up and stated, “But, Tsuki, look at it this way. We’re a step closer to getting to that peace we’ve always wanted.” 

Tsuki looked at him. “But why did it come to this, Jean?” She looked down at her hands and the ring on her left ring finger. “Four years ago… we were fighting titans and… the dream was to ride ourselves of them. To be able to go beyond the walls! Now – “ 

Jean pulled her in and quickly hushed her when some people walked by to the back door of the building – coming closer to them than he liked. He pressed his lips to her forehead as he stepped away. 

Tsuki sighed. “Now we’re fighting the world…Not for our freedom…” 

Jean cupped her cheeks. “For our survival.” He assured her. He brushed her soft skin with his thumbs and told her, “We’re not in the wrong. We have every right to live just like they do. Don’t be ashamed to fight them for it.” 

Tsuki leaned her head into his chest and let out a slow, shuddering breath. “I know Jean. I know…and… I don’t…not want to fight for it. I just… wish we didn’t have to.” 

His gaze softened more. “I know, Tsuki…I know…” He held her close and swayed with her while they waited. 

 

Demi looked down from where she sat on the tallest building. From there, she could see the entire town but mostly the stage which she knew she needed to focus on. The wind carried her auburn brow hair just a bit from her face. She’d grown it out and pulled it back into a ponytail so it would stay out of her way. The last four years had been something of a stranger to her. Things had changed so much. Now, she couldn’t believe that the girl who had hidden herself away in the bottom of Castle Utgard was herself. When she looked in the mirror, she didn’t recognize herself. She had never pictured being a noble fighter, laying her life on the line for others. But that dumb brown haired boy had come along and changed her perspective. And then he changed it again.  
  


When they retook Wall Maria she had thought that the toughest of everything was behind them – that she had played her part and been the hero she was supposed to be. There had been an idea in her head that their world had become bigger and she could relax and maybe get comfortable. But each day after had been harder and harder until she found herself questioning what she believed. 

Every day she had tried to get closer to Eren. He would respond to her, but the distance never closed. In fact… each attempt… felt like the void grew wider. Weird jumbled thoughts would sometimes fill her mind and she would notice that he always looked away with a long blank look in his eyes. Every time she asked about it, he told her it was nothing. 

But soon… even those moments drifted away into the wind. 

One day he had even asked her to avoid using Sarthis so they wouldn’t connect. 

Demi’s gaze trembled. That had been the first day she felt so much emotion that she couldn’t control it. To be honest, even after seeing Mijore’s memory that day and seeing how little her mother cared about her – that didn’t matter too much. She hadn’t remembered her mom – hadn’t remembered anything until they found her in that castle. 

But then. 

That boy. The first person in her life that told her she would be good for something and asked her to stick around. He, with his passionate desire to destroy the titans and claim freedom for himself had driven her towards a goal she didn’t even know she had. 

But now she felt stranded. Stranded and alone. 

The one thing she wanted from him – to be close – and he made it clear he didn’t want the same. 

Demi gripped the front of her shirt as the wind picked up. 

Then one day, he was just gone. Their bond had cracked so much that she didn’t even know he wasn’t there until he couldn’t be found again. At least, not until he’d wanted to be. All of a sudden, his voice had come back to her, through the connection she thought he’d abandoned and told her of what he wanted to do. She felt used. Used and betrayed and she _hated_ him for it. 

And yet. 

She still loved him with everything she was. 

And no matter what he did, that would never be untrue. 

A heavy sigh left her. 

 

The sun began to set and all of the people who were wandering around and enjoying the festival began sitting down in the seats in front of the stage. Leah was sitting in one the buildings and looking out the window as the crowd began to gather. She was surprised by how many people were gathering. All scattered about the festival, it didn’t look like so many, but now that they were all huddled together in the same area, there were so many more people. Lights came on and were pointed to the large amphitheater like stage.  
  


Slowly, the crowd began to quiet down. When they did, the curtains pulled back and revealed a man standing at the center of the stage. He was in long white robes and his hair was straight and fell around his shoulders. He screamed nobleman. 

It reminded her of the Queen from the memory that Mijore gave them – the Queen that she was with. 

The man began to speak, holding his arms out as shadows began to dance on the curtains. “Once upon a time about a hundred years ago…” The shadows changed to large humanoid creatures devouring smaller humans. “The Eldian empire was using the power of the titans to rule the world. From the time of their appearance of their ancestor, Ymir, to today, who knows just how many lives have been taken by the titans. The latest research says that humanity as we know it today could go extinct three times over and that the number still wouldn’t be high enough. The titans took from us an outrageous number of races and cultures… our history. These slaughters are now Humanity’s history… and the path of history that the Eldian Empire chose to walk.” 

Leah stared in awe through the window. Her long hair fell in lumps around her shoulders as she leaned out, listening to the story the man told. Her lavender eyes swirled with emotion and pain. So this is what the rest of the world thought of them. This is how they were viewed and why they were bound from the outside by walls which threatened the rest of the world. 

The mans’ story confirmed everything they had learned four years ago. 

The nobleman continued, “Then, once the Eldian Empire ran out of enemies they began to kill one another. That was the beginning of the great Titan War. The families who held the eight titans shed each other’s blood in an endless cycle of conspiracy and betrayal. There was a Marleyan who saw a way to prevail in this situation. None other than the great Helos. He deftly manipulated information until the Eldian Empire killed it’s own, again and again. Then, he joined hands with the Tybur family and successfully forced even King Fritz, said to be impossible to defeat, to retreat to an island. 

But though the king reatreated to the Island of Paradis, he continues to have his power. Tens of millions of titans lie in wait on that island, with the power to crush the world. At the moment, our world continues to exist, intact. That is by pure chance. It is the only explanation the titan society can provide. While Marley, our motherland, sent four titans to the island in order to remove this threat, they were foiled and defeated. The only one to return was the armored titan. 

We have sent a total of thirty-two survey ships to the island in the last four years. Everyone of them has vanished. In other words…The Eldian Empire, the dark side of mankind’s history, continues to be alive and well!” 

There was a pause as some of the crowd began to mumble and exchange words in reaction to what the man said. After giving it several minutes to sink in, he continued, “Now then. Let’s begin today’s main subject. The story I have told you so far is a truth that everyone knows. But the facts are slightly different. These are memories that we, the Tybur family, have passed down from generation to generation, together with the war hammer titan. Today these facts will be publically revealed for the first tim ever. Facts from about a century ago, concerning the great Titan War. 

Who ended the great Titan War? Was it Helos? Was it the Tybur family? No. It was neither. The man to save our world by putting an end to the great Titan war was King Fritz. Specifically Karl Fritz CXLV. Even before he inherited the founding titan, he lamented the Eldian Empire’s brutal history. He’d grown tired of the ugly war between families and countrymen – and most of all, his heart ached for Marley, a nation under constant tyranny. When he inherited the founding titan, he also decided to conspire with the Tybur family. He offered himself as a way to bring the history of the Eldian Empire to an end. 

King Fritz worked with the Tybur family to present a Marleyan as a hero. That man was Helos. Then, as the Eldians began to eliminate one another, just as we planned, he himself moved as many of the Eldian people as he could to the island and enclosed them inside walls. As he did, he said that anyone who threatened his peace would be met with countless titans as retribution. But he did not truly mean this. 

In order for his successors to inherit his own philosophy even after his death, Karl Fritz created his vow to renounce war. Only royal blood is able to make use of the absolute power that is the founding titan, with it’s ability to control all titans. Only inheritors of this royal bloodline are affected by this vow. Because of it, Karl Fritz’s ideology is passed down to each new king of the walls which is why the titans have yet to come attacking from that island. In other words, it was the detestable king of the walls that protected this world. Karl Fritz’s heartfelt desire for peace. 

Yes. His goal is peace. Along with the liberation of Marley from it’s many years of persecution. 

If Marley grows strong and attempts to take the lives of the Royal family or it’s founding titan, I will accept it. If Marley wishes to exterminate all Eldians, I will accept it. That is how grave the Eldians’ crimes were. They could never be atoned for. Eldians… titans…they never should have existed in the first place. I will accept the responsibility of righting this wrong. But. Until the day that this retribution comes, I want to live inside the walls. I want to enjoy this brief paradise, this world without conflict. Please, I ask that you only grant me this. 

Those were the king’s final words.” 

The crowd was once again, murmuring with each other, gossiping about the new information they had just learned. 

“But.” Tybur suddenly spoke even louder than before. “In recent years, a rebellion has occurred within Paradis, eliminating King Fritz’s peaceful ideology. The founding titan has been stolen away by a certain man. The world is in danger once more. Someone has come to rise against King Fritz’s peaceful world. A man who rebels against peace. His name… is Eren Yeager.” 

 

Demi straightened up from where she stood, overlooking the stage. The mans words resounded in her head and reverberated through her body. It left a feeling in her that she couldn’t describe. Where everyone within the walls saw Eren as the hope to their future and freedom, the world saw him as someone who wanted to enstill chaos and horror upon the world. 

How could that be? 

All they wanted was to live and not be hunted and eaten. They wanted to survive. 

But the world wanted to see them dead. 

Well. Wanted the rest of them dead. The Slayers weren’t Eldians. They were never supposed to be inside the walls. They were technically supposed to be on the other side, protecting the rest of humanity. But because of Kana’s mother, Meria, and the feelings they developed for the humans inside the walls, they stood with them instead of the bulk of humanity. She ran her hand through her bangs, pushing them back away from her face. 

What were they doing? 

Tybur continued his speech. “And we, the Tybur family are no saviors of humanity. After the Great Titan War, we sided with Karl Fritz in exchange for our family’s assured safety. We sold the Eldians to Marley. And then, despite being Eldians, we enjoyed lives free from persecution, respected by the world. I learned these facts the day I became head of the Tybur family. These facts sent me reeling, as if the ground under me had begun to quake. And so I looked away from them. 

These hard to accept facts that said the Tybur family was nothing more than a bunch of petty thieves growing fat on unearned honor.” 

The Tyber man looked down and then opened his arms and called out, “I stand on this tage, parting with my false glory because I now understand the dangerous state our world is in now. Yes. This problem affects me and it affects everyone living in this world. Karl Fritz used the power of the founding titan to give birth to massive titans. These were to act as both his shields and his spears. His three walls, named after the three daughters of Ymir, the founder: Wall Maria, Wall Rose, Wall Sina. These walls, both shield and spear are made of what must be millions of collosal titans. The threat that Pardis poses to us is the threat of an attack in the form of a rumbling caused by these collosal titans. 

As I explained earlier, only the royal bloodline can use the power of the founding titan. This line will not use the founding titan for military purposes due to it’s vow to renounce war. But according to reports from Reiner Braun, the Armored titan, someone has appeared who can activate the power of the founding titan, despite an unclear relation to the royal bloodline. That is the threat posed by Eren Yaeger, who now has the founding titan within him. 

In other words, Eren Yeager could potentially have the ability to activate this rumbling. While we saw the rise of weapons more powerful than titans in the last war – including our allies, the Titan Slayers – we will never see a weapon that can prevent the advance of millions of Collosal titans. The only weapon that could have done this has been lost for centuries. If this rumbling is activated a single time, there will be nothing left we can do. All that will remain for humanity is for us to flee in terror of the sound of the inevitable footsteps signaling our end. Before long, these massive creatures will trample us all along with our cities, civilizations, and our entire ecosystem. 

They will literally flatten the ground. 

It will be too late by then. If we want to stop the threat, now is our only time. 

But this danger now facing our world can all be traced back to the existence of Eldians. I would choose to have never been born, if it was up to me. I’ve hated my blood. More than anyone else, I wished for the extinction of all Eldians. But I do not wish to die… because… I was born into this world. 

We may belong to different nations and races, but I ask any of you who do not wish to die to lend me your strength! 

Please…! I want to ensure our future together! I want you to fight with me against the devils on Paradis!” 

Everyone in the crowd stood to their feet and began to cheer and clap. 

Tyber continued, “WE still face many issues that keep the militaries of the world from joining hands. But I believe we can band together in the face of this powerful enemy. We should be able to overcome anything if only we can work as one!” 

The cheers began growing louder. 

“As ambassador for the Marleyan government, I, Willy Tybur – “ He shouted, “Wish for world peace! 

And so I proclaim… 

On this day…” 

A rumbling began under the ground. 

“To the enemy forces on Paradis…” 

The building behind Tybur, filled with people, suddenly exploded with the form of a titan lunging forth from the other ground. Erens’ titan let out a screech as he lunged forward. 

Tybur finished with, “ **This is a declaration of war!!!** ” 

Eren slammed his massive titan hand down into the stage, through the canopy and smashed Willy Tybur in one fell swoop. When Eren raised his hand back up, pieces of Tybur’s body fell and dripped back into Eren’s mouth as screams erupted throughout the audience. 

Eren jumped forward and body slammed into the crowd, smashing the hundreds of people who were there. 

Demi stood to her feet, her large green eyes on the scene before her. Eren clearly cared nothing for the civilians that were in that crowd, unsuspecting of what was going to happen this day. He bashed through one of the walls of the stage as people trampled and piled over each other in attempt to escape. 

Demi looked down and sighed. 

How far they had fallen… 

 

Jean looked up when he heard the screaming and he put his hands on Tsuki’s shoulders. “This is it.” He pulled her in and kissed her deeply before releasing her so she could back up a step. “You better go meet up with your squad. Be safe my love.” 

Tsuki smiled and blew a kiss to him. “You, too, my sweet husband.” She turned and rushed down the alley while Jean used his gear and reeling himself up to the rooftop and took off. 

 

Leah jumped out of the window as people started freaking out, running and screaming. She turned as she jumped out and grabbed the sill above her and yanked herself up, making her way back to the roof so she could meet back up with her squad. 

 

From the rubble, a second titan began to form. It grew up from it’s feet as a skeleton and then it’s flesh began to build up around it’s frame. It wasn’t even done building itself when Eren lunged and punched it in through another building. Leah had just jumped off the roof and looked back, her eyes widened as bodies went flying out of the collapsing structure among the rubble. 

Once the other titan fell, Eren dropped down on top of it, raising his hands into the air. When he did, the hardened skin formed on the backs of his fingers. 

 

“Commander Magath! The war hammer titan is going to be defeated!” 

Several soldiers were all grouped together on the roof a a building on the far side of the stage. 

“General Calvi and the rest of the military command seems to have been wiped out.” 

“The warrior unit is nowhere to be found!” 

“We should focus on evacuating VIPs! It’s dangerous for us to be out here, too!” 

“Please give your orders!” 

“Commander!” 

The commander suddenly shot a single bullet. 

He stepped to the edge of the roof and explained, “It may have been like a shot from a toy gun, but the first shot has now been fired in the Marleyan military’s counter attack. I never thought they’d make such a grand appearance. Plus, that seems to be the usurprer of the founding titan. The attack titan. Eren Yaeger himself has arrived here. That saves us the trouble of going to the island. All men, head ot your stations and prepare for battle.” 

They shouted, “Yessir!” 

A giggle started from behind them. They all spun around to see Demi standing there, her hand on her hip of her all black uniform. She rubbed her bangs and her temple as she chuckled, “You poor bastards have no idea what you’re in for. This battle has already been lost for you and you don’t even know it.” 

They all shouted and open fired. 

Every bullet that hit Demi resulted in a spurt of blood but she just shook it off and continued walking closer to them. 

The commander yelled, “She’s not human!” 

They ran at her, but she took a low, sweeping kick against the ankles of the first man, then jumped and kicked the head of the next. Still completing a spin, she grabbed another arm and shoved him down into the roof, flipped over him and caught her thighs on the shoulders of the next guy. She wrapped her leg around his head and yanked him over sideways, busting him into the cement. Once back on her feet, she smacked a gun away, yanked it from his hand and rammed it back into his gut, making him stumble back. She turned and fired the loaded shots into two different men and then pushed them over the edge. 

She turned her gaze on the Commander, her green eyes bright. “Run.” 

He hesitated. “I won’t.” 

Demi glared but huffed. “One day… you’ll wish you had.” She jumped off the roof and rushed across the ground towards Eren. 

Eren continued to pound away on the new titan that had appeared. He was thrashing so hard on it that it couldn’t hardly regenerate it’s body in time. Unable to continue as it was, a massive spike shot up out of the ground and stabbed through Eren, lifting him high up into the air. The spike impaled Eren completely. 

As people ran away from the fighting titans, the entire city was beginning to fill with people racing across rooftops using maneuver gear. The people began to cry out louder, fearing for their lives. 

As the other titan finally took full form, it created a massive hammer in it’s hands and raised it over it’s head, aimed for Eren’s. Before it’s swing could hit it’s mark, a green flash breezed by and slammed into the neck of the beast and sent it down into the building again. Demi kept going as Sarthis turned into a massive hook in her hand, which caught on the spike below where Eren was engorged and broke him free. 

He dropped down to the ground and started to stand back up, but spikes shot up from underneath, this time smaller and just enough to slice through his feet. Demi cursed. The only way to free him from those would be to cut his foot off. 

Fire erupted from another building and Eren turned, putting Demi on the other side, away from the bullets. 

Demi snapped. “What is the other squad doing!?” 

Distracted by the fire from the roof, the other titan took a massive swing and Demi just barely rolled out of the way as Eren’s head was ripped off. She cursed and used her gear to fly right towards the titan. “You’re getting on my last nerve!” 

From the nape of his titan, Eren stood up.  
  


 

Some of the soldiers started shouting, “Look! It’s the usurper, Eren Yeager!” 

The other titan asked, “Do you have… any final words…?” 

“No.” Eren stated simply. “I intend to continue talking for a while.” Just as he spoke, Demi reeled down towards the ground and cut the titan off at his feet and looked over, seeing that something was connected to the titan and running along the ground. 

Eren, who’s face was half covered in green, narrowed his eyes. “I see it.” 

 

Several people in gear also reeled themselves up to the rooftop where the other set of soldiers were firing. Jean skidded along, firing at every arm and leg he could to prevent them from continuing to use their weaponry. Others were using the thunderspears to blow up the cannons and machine guns that were stationed among them. 

Jean carried on to the next building and when he did, he saw another blow up and Floch rushing away. Jean reeled down over to him and growled, “Hey! Are you trying to burn this entire internment zone down? You need to keep civilian losses to a minimum! Do you understand me, Floch?”  
  


 

Floch was loading up on another round of bombs. “Jean. All that’s here are enemies and the buildings they live in. Have you forgotten how much of humanity inside the walls has been killed by these bastards outside of it!? They ate us alive, you know! This isn’t even close to payback!” 

Jean cursed. “You’re still going on about that?” 

Floch pointed past Jean and at Eren’s decapitated titan. “Look. Eren showed us. He said to fight. We can’t just wait inside the walls for death to come. That’s the devil we need right now.” 

 

Eren pulled himself out of his titan and he jumped back down to the ground. Demi met him halfway and looked over him. It had been so long since she’d seen him and now… he looked like an entirely different person. “Eren…this… isn’t like you…” 

Eren sighed and turned away. Just like always, he ignored her questions and concerns and changed the subject. “That war hammer titan… it was able to create any kind of weapon by hardening it. We need it.” 

Demi frowned but she looked around. The War Hammer titan had begun steaming, which meant whoever was inside of it was no longer there. “They must have run away.” 

Eren ordered, “Let’s find them.” 

 

A line of soldiers and trucks were rolling down the main street of the city but they didn’t get very far before bombs were dropped on them by more soldiers using gear. 

Sasha and Connie were on top of the roof with Sasha taking out soldiers who weren’t hit by the explosives and Connie placing lights on the rooftops. 

Connie landed beside her, “Blocked this street. Let’s go, Sasha.” 

Sasha held up a light. “Excuse me but have you forgotten to light a lamp?” She turned it on and placed it while Connie grumbled. 

 

Demi and Eren were racing along the ground, looking every which way for where the person who was the War Hammer could be. But there was no sign of any such person. Demi turned to him, “I think we need to just give up and get out of here.” 

Eren looked up. “Not yet. If we wait long enough, they’ll show themselves again.” 

Demi grasped his arm, “Eren…” She sighed and closed her eyes. He clearly didn’t care about the lives that it cost for them to be here. If he didn’t… then she wouldn’t either. 

As they were standing there, another, much smaller titan was climbing along the building towards their backs. It lauched forward and landed behind them, raising it’s arms to slam down on top of them. It shouted, “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for! Time to retake the founder!” 

A flash soared by, cutting it’s arms clean off and then in the same moment, reeled back in and sliced away it’s ankles, causing the titan to collapse. 

Demi wrapped her arm around Eren and reeled herself farther away from the titan and looked up. Levi reeled himself into the wall and glared down at them. “Pay more attention. You brats will get yourselves killed and this will have been a waste. Demi, take Eren and meet back up with your squad. Keep Eren out of sight.”  
  


Eren resisted. “We need to take the War Hammer titan first.” 

Just as they finished speaking, a flurry of bullets suddenly came at them and they all separated. Another group of soldiers had gone in after the other titan that had appeared but couldn’t evade the new spew of fire. 

Levi and the others looked back to see that the quadrupedal titan from four years ago was on a building further away with a machine on it’s back that people were firing guns out of. 

Mikasa landed next to Levi. “Sir, do you want me to – “ 

Jean shouted, “It’s here!” 

They all looked over as the beast titan began walking down the road. 

Levi narrowed his eyes, filling with hatred as he looked upon the creature. 

Connie asked, “Do you think we should have the other squad – “ 

“No.” Jean stated, looking the opposite way. “It’s not just the beast. The Slayers are finally here.” 

They looked the direction Jean was facing. Down the same street the Beast was meandering towards them from, from the exact opposite way, several beings were rushing towards them, some of them flying, some of them gliding on elements, others were running with weapons drawn. 

Jean narrowed his eyes. “I count… seven of them.” 

Sasha gritted her teeth. “But… we only have four!” 

“Well… Demi’s distracted focusing on Eren instead of them… dunno how much help she’ll be.” Connie stated, looking back to the other rooftop where Demi and Eren were conversing. 

Levi pointed his sword forward. “Keep focused on the mission. We will take care of the titans, let the other squad handle the Slayers.” 

“Got it!” They shouted. 

He lastly ordered, “Don’t you die. You have to survive.” 

They took off towards the titans that had all but lined up for them. 

As the Slayers rushed towards them from behind, a building beside them exploded with rubble and person shot straight out of it, going right for the Slayers. Two rings formed in front of the red head as she leaned back and held her hand out. It glowed and she whistled, “Hey guys, I’ve been waiting for you!” The blast erupted, hitting dead straight on five of the Slayers, but missing the two that were in the air. 

Kana flipped and landed on the wall, lifting her head up and causing her crimson locks to blow up out of her face. She shoved right back off and flew towards the two remaining Slayers. When the first one turned towards her, she was already swinging and buried the blade on her elbow into his stomach and ripped back, cutting him in half as she spun and then landed on the back of the other Slayer. She grabbed their hair and yanked his head up and shoved the blade on the bottom of her foot through his neck and threw aside the pieces. 

She headed for the ground when a blast of white went up behind her and she flipped and landed in the street, looking back. Tsuki had just blasted one of the Slayers that was already getting up. “Careful. This one reforms fast, just like Demi.” 

Kana nodded. “Thanks for the cover, Tsuki. You focus on my back, I’ll keep these fuckers occupied.”  
  


 

Connie and Sasha were watching the action behind them and he let out a whistle. “Captain Kana, more like Captain Badass! She took out all seven of those Slayers in seconds!” 

Levi snapped back at them. “Hey! Pay attention to your own job!” 

Sasha grumbled. “Says the one who gets a front row seat to the action unlike us.” 

It took only a few minutes for the rest of the Slayers to start getting back up as well. Kana rushed towards the first one and went to sink her blade into them again, but just as the Slayers powers worked, it was harder for her to cut through. Her blade stopped just a couple inches into his shoulder and he turned his fist on her as it covered up with earth. Just before it hit her though, a purple shield formed beside her and she dropped down, tripping him and stomping her blade on her foot through his neck just like the other. 

The next Slayer was on top of her, wrapping his arm around her neck and attempting to burn her with her skin which felt like fire. Kana was yanked back, but Tsuki came in and slammed her foot into the jaw of the Slayer. She thought she was going to be sent flying but she just crumpled over with a big grin on her face. 

Tsuki’s eyes widened, “Look out!” 

An explosion went up faster than what Leah could shield them from. Even Leah, who had been watching from the alley was blown back. Kana slammed into the cement and Tsuki went flying down the street. She groaned in pain and slowly lifted herself up, rubbing her face. “Oww… that was so hot…” 

“Wow… you’ve gotten a lot better with those wings.” 

Tsuki’s eyes widened and she slowly raised her head. Her blue eyes trembled in their sockets as she looked up to see the familiar blue black hair and sturdy brown eyes. 

Clay grinned at her, “You’ve grown a lot, too. So… how’s the rest of Trinity+1 doing?”


	147. Bitter Taste of Victory

Jean came to a stop as they were racing across the rooftops. Connie dropped down next to him and asked, “Jean, what are you doing? Why’d you stop?”  
Jean looked back towards the Slayers in the distance. He whispered, “Clay is back there.”  
“Huh?” Sasha repeated. “Clay, as in… from our 104th training group?”  
“The one who disappeared with Burt and Reiner. Hey… yeah he was a titan too!” Connie stated.  
All of their eyes widened with realization at the same time. Jean shouted, “Tsuki! Get away from him! That can only mean that he’s – “

Tsuki slowly stood to her feet. “Clay… I didn’t think… we’d ever see you again.”  
Clay shrugged his shoulders. “Well, to be honest… I’d hoped for that. But here you guys are… exactly where you shouldn’t be…”  
Tsuki could hear Jean screaming in her head, but she couldn’t think about his words right now. She reached out and put her hands on Clay’s arms. “Clay, come back with us. We can all be Trinity+1 again.”  
Clay shook his head. He looked at Kana and Leah who were battling the other Slayers. He sighed and told her, “You were all Slayers, except me. I knew I never quite fit in with you guys. Now I get it. Don’t you see? I was just a placeholder. Your plus one is your fourth Slayer. Not me.”  
“That’s not true!” Tsuki argued. “You will always be a member of our squad! You can’t… also be…just like Reiner…”  
Clay looked down. “Don’t you get it, Tsuki? You guys are the ones on the wrong side. You’re fighting to defend a tiny subset of humanity bent on nothing but destruction and power. You shouldn’t be fighting your fellow Slayers. We titans are their enemy. We should be destroyed by them.”  
Tsuki felt her breathing catch in her throat. “I – “  
A red blur blasted past Tsuki and slammed into Clay. Kana buried her fist in his face and turned and kicked his chest, slicing it open and sending him flying back. She kept after him. “You rotten piece of shit!”  
Tsuki screamed. “Kana!”  
Kana slammed her fists down into his head and bashed it into the pavement. Tsuki rushed after her and pulled her back. “Kana stop, that’s Clay.”  
Kana turned on her. “I know damn well who this is!”  
Tsuki was shaking her head. “He fought against Reiner and Burt to the end, remember? He was on our side.”  
“None of these people are on our side, Tsuki!” Kana shouted at her. “Don’t make me be like this. The last traitor we hesitated to kill led to the entire Survey Corps being wiped out! Remember!? We don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing our enemies! If you want to stand here and talk to him, then do you want to bear the responsibilities of the lives lost because of it!?”  
Tsuki was shaking her head. “He’s Trinity+1! He’s still our friend!”  
Kana started to say something when Clay’s body began to glow and Kana wrapped herself around Tsuki, protecting her as the titan form burst forth, sending them both flying. Kana rolled back up to her feet and looked down at her friend. “Tsuki. You’re too compassionate. You love with all of your heart. Focus on the other Slayers. I’ll deal with Clay.”  
Tsuki looked down and her hands shook. She didn’t feel wrong. Clay resisted the other titans… fought them…and then protected Mizuki when they ran away. He was their friend.

The beast titan raised his arm, his hand full of rocks, ready to throw.  
Jean shouted, “Incoming!”  
He and the other scouts all barely dodged as the impact of the stones tore a line down through the building, causing more of it to crumble. Two of the members took right back off towards the beast and shouted, “That bastard’s gonna pay!”  
Jean shouted, “Wait!”  
Before they could get close enough to the beast to take it down, the cart titan turned and the people inside the cart on it’s back open fired and ripped them apart.  
A person came up from behind with a thunder spear, to throw it straight down on him, but before he could, the jaws titan leapt up and swatted him away.  
The Cart titan and the jaws titan both looked over when a light erupted and the War Hammer titan rose again. Cart Titan stated, “Good, Clay’s back up. There’s no need for us to worry then. The battle field is under our control now. We’re closing in on all our enemies. They decided to make their entrance using vertical maneuvering gear so they don’t have much in terms of weapons or fuel. In other words, they’re in the middle of enemy territory with no supply lines. They’re cornered rats. The marleyan army should be surrounding this internment zone by now, so there’s no escape route. The paradis forces never ahd the numbers to take on Marley in a proper war.”  
Jaws titan argued, “Then if we can just get the founding titan, that’ll take the ace up their sleeve, the ability to shake the ground! And our opportunity to do that is right in front of our eyes!”  
Cart argued, “That’s why we need to be careful when we act! All we need to do right now is protect the commander from Ackerman. Clay has the Slayers busy.”  
Beast chuckled, “That’s my Pieck. You’re exactly right.” He threw his arms out wide, cuasing rocks to fly everywhere and wind kicked up all around. He held his arms up and out. “Eren Yeager is not my enemy. I’m start with you…Show yourself, Levi. You can’t afford to wait, can you?”

Clay took a swing at Kana with his massive hammer, but Kana spun around it and slammed into his face, stabbing both of his eyes and then flipping over the top of his head. She jumped and slammed her blades into the back of his neck and dragged them all the way down till she reached the ground. She turned and cut the back of his legs open so he fell forward. She shouted, “Leah! Get him!”  
Leah rushed away from the Slayers she was engaging and dove for Clay as he appeared out of the nape.  
Kana kept sliding across the ground using her gear and was reeling herself right up towards the beast titan. Right as she came in close, the jaws titan slammed down where she was and she flipped off his head and into the air. When she did it made a perfect target and the cart titan fired several rounds. Several hit her in the shoulders and legs, but despite the bleeding, she smirked as she flipped into the air and winked at them. “Thanks for looking my way.”  
Both of the other titans looked over just as Levi shot into the back of the beast titan’s neck and cut his nape clean through, causing the beast to drop to the ground. Levi kept going up and wrapped his arm around Kana and pulled her to the ground. He glared at her, “You make it hard to fight when I can feel those bullets. Be cleaner next time.”  
Kana smirked. “Sorry.” She held her hand out and the rings formed in front of it and she created a massive blast of energy at the two titans, keeping them off of them just as Levi pulled the pin out of a bomb and dropped it on the Beast titan’s head.  
They both darted away.  
As soon as that explosion subsided, another, much more massive one erupted from much further away. It had to be a couple miles at least. But it kicked wind all the way up where they were all fighting. War ships could be seen flying through the air, away from the blast.  
Jean shouted to the other soldiers. “We’re running out of time! We need to take out that cart’s machine guns, no matter what!” Within moments, all of them were up in the air, flying around, distracting the Cart’s attention.  
Sasha had stationed herself behind a piece of rubble on the roof and lunged out, taking aim and in a second, shooting one of the machine gun users right betwee the eyes.  
In a rage, the cart titan turned right towards Sasha and raced for her. But Jean was waiting just over the edge and dove straight for it. He raised the thunderspear in his arm and pointed it right at the titan. “Never got to thank you for last time.”  
It his straight into the metal armor protecting it’s face and exploded, blowing out majority of it’s head. In the same moment, all the other soldiers went straight down for the cart titan and unleashed all of their thunder spears in one fell swoop. Even as it was blown to bits, the titan scrambled to get away, lunging off the edge of the roof and down into the alley.  
Jean took after it and shouted, “Hurry! Finish it!”  
But two children and the commander which Demi let live previously were sitting right near where the titan fell. One of the kids rushed up and stood over the nape of the titan. He screamed, “Don’t shoot! I’m begging you!”  
Jean gnashed his teeth, feeling a pain surge through him that he couldn’t describe. He didn’t want to fire. But if he didn’t take the shot… he couldn’t let the chance slip away. He threw the thunderspear but instead of landing beside the boy, it flew passed and exploded into the ground, away from the boy.  
The owner of the cart titan, Pieck, formed out of the nape and collapsed, but the boy caught her. When other soldiers joined, Jean shouted, “That’s the cart’s body! Don’t let it get away!”  
Before they could get down to them, the soldiers still remaining in the area began to open fire. A couple soldiers got hit before Jean ordered, “Just fall back!”  
They had just gotten to the roof when an object began to be seen on the horizon.  
Connie stated, “Jean. It’s here.”  
“Exactly on time.” Jean stated.  
As the airship rumbled through all of them began flying around and swarming under it.  
Tsuki stopped time around the Slayers and looked at Leah. “Let’s go!”  
She nodded and created a shield that kept them in place, both of them taking off after the airship.  
Demi held on to Eren as she reeled herself and him back up onto the ship. As soon as they latched on, Armin held his hand out to Eren to help him in.  
  
Eren huffed as he took his hand and pulled himself in.  
As soon as he did, Levi walked up to him and glared. “I can’t believe how filthy you are. Looks like you fell in a pile of shit, Eren.”  
Eren looked up at him. “…Captain.”  
Levi immediately kicked him as hard as he could and he fell against the wall, coughing. He scoffed, “This really brings me back, Eren. You’re as easy to kick as ever.”  
Demi climbed in as well and dusted herself off. Normally, she’d jump to Eren’s aid, but right now she just felt like being a bystander. A coupld soldiers walked up, keeping their weapons trained on him.  
Levi explained. “We’re restraining you first. We can talk after that.”  
Eren sighed. “That’s fine with me. But nothing I wrote in my letter was wrong. Was that not enough to earn your understanding?”  
Levi sighed. “You look like every one of those pieces of garbage I had to see in the underground city. I can’t believe it. You, too.” He turned and glared at the person sitting on the other side of the craft. “Happy? It all went the way you wanted it to.”  
In the back section of the aircraft, Tsuki leaned out when Jean flew up and she took his hand. “Gotcha!” She eagerly pulled him in and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”  
He kissed her forehead. “You, too, Tsuki.” He looked at the others. “Who’s here?”  
Connie stated, “We’re still waiting on squad Lima in the front. We’ve currently confirmed six deaths.”  
Jean cursed. “Dammit.”  
Floch from the other side shouted, “Compare that to the damage we did to them! It’s a huge victory! The new Eldian Empire first battle has been a major victory! Now rejoice! That’s how we’ll pay tribute to our six fallen heroes!”  
Jean looked down. “Our first battle… I wonder… how many more there’s going to be. How many more… we need to kill…”  
Tsuki started to reassure him when there was a noise outside the door. It was hard to hear over the sound of everyone cheering. She turned just in time to see a girl and a boy roll in on a corpse. Her eyes widened as a bullet rang by her and hit Sasha right in the chest.  
Connie shouted her name.  
Instinctively, Tsuki threw her hands out and reversed time just enough to the girl and boy rolling into the air craft. She lunged and grabbed the girl and the gun out of her hands and threw it out the window.  
Jean rushed over to her. He helped her to restrain the girl before he looked at Tsuki. “She killed Sasha. And then you reversed time.”  
Tsuki nodded. “So you can retain that knowledge while we’re linked, huh?”  
Floch looked at the gear they used to pull themselves up with and he explained, “They got up here using Lobov’s vertical maneuvering equipment. They must have killed him and then reeled themselves up.” He walked over to Jean and Tsuki. “Want me to toss them out?”  
Jean gritted his teeth and glared down. “What will we gain by throwing a couple kids out of an airship? It’s not going to stop all this bloodshed…”  
As soon as they had the two kids tied up, the girl immediately started fighting and resisting. Her friend tried to calm her down.  
“Gabi! Stop it! Don’t touch me you devils! We haven’t lost yet!”  
Floch asked, “What we doing to do with her, Jean?”  
She screamed, “We’re going to carry on Zeke’s will! We true Eldians are going to curse you into your graves! And once you kill me, tell that to the ring-leader behind all of this!”  
Jean simply said, “Then you can meet him now.” He straightened her up. “You’d better say the same thing to his face.  
He opened the door to the other room and pushed the two kids in.  
The room was filled with other Survey Corps soldiers, but on the far side of the room, Zeke, owner of the Beast titan, sat against the wall with one of his supporters besdie him. Zeke stared at them in shock. “Gabi. Falco… Why are you here?”  
The boy repeated, “Why? What about you? You were alive?”  
The girl asked, “How could you have been captured by these devils!?”  
Levi asked Jean, “Who are these brats?”  
Jean answered, “They killed Lobov and used his equipment to board the ship. Then the girl shot Sasha… but Tsuki turned back time. Thank god for that.”  
Hanji stepped out of the main room and looked at the others. She could feel the tension but she looked passed them and spoke. “Kana. Come here for a sec.”  
Kana did as she was told and followed her to the front of the ship. Once they entered the front room, she glanced at the person piloting the ship but said nothing to them. She walked on by and looked out the front glass as Hanji motioned towards one of the buildings they were passing as they headed out over the ocean. Her eyes widened when she looked at what Hanji was motioning towards. At the very edge of the rooftop, glaring back up at her was like her own reflection. Mijore’s black eyes glared up at them, but she made no move to follow them.  
Kana narrowed her eyes.  
Hanji whispered, “It’s just like she’s reminding you that she’s still around.”  
“I wonder what’s holding her back.” Kana whispered. “She was so determined to kill me that day…then she ran away and hasn’t tried to kill us again since.”  
Hanji whispered. “The way she speaks…it seems like everything she does is for her pleasure and gain. Maybe… there’s something she has to gain from you being alive…”  
“I don’t know…” Kana stated.

The door to the back section of the airship opened up ahd Leah lifted her head. She saw Mikasa sitting with Armin, and the others were talking amongst themselves. Tsuki and Jean were talking with Sasha who seemed to be rattled about the realization that she should be dead. Leah couldn’t blame her. She remembered when she was first told she was supposed to be a Slayer. Realizations like that were… horrifying. But her gaze lingered on Mikasa and she walked slowly over to her. Touching the black-haired girls shoulder, she whispered, “Mikasa…you should…come with me…”  
She looked at Leah strangely, but stood and followed her. When the door opened to the other room, her eyes widened.  
Sitting alone, against the wall, Clay was bound and gagged so he couldn’t transform. Mikasa’s eyes widened with horror and shock, but also… relief. She had no idea what had happened to him since he went back. She’d almost been disappointed when he wasn’t with Reiner and Burt when they found them four years ago, but the fact he wasn’t had given her hope.  
She stumbled forward until she collapsed in front of him. “Clay…”  
His eyes were trembling as he looked at her. He looked down before closing his eyes tightly.  
Mikasa looked back at her. “Can we let him speak, please?”  
Leah frowned. She started to open her mouth but it wasn’t her voice that came out.  
Kana had walked in with Tsuki. “We can’t, Mikasa. We don’t know his loyalty yet. He fought against us. Friend or not… we can’t risk him right now.”  
Mikasa’s hand was trembling as she gripped her jacket. Eren, who was like a brother to her, was restrained, as well as the man she had cared about so much so many years ago. Was this really what they were fighting for?  
Tsuki frowned as she sat down and crossed her arms in front of her legs. “This is the first time Trinity+1 has been together in four years… it’s… bittersweet…”  
Leah nodded. “We never wanted it to go like this…” She looked up at him. “Clay… can’t you tell us… that you’re with us? That you’re not our enemy?”  
Clay closed his eyes tightly.  
Kana frowned. “The fact that he’s not trying to defend himself doesn’t give me high hopes…”  
Leah rested her chin on her knees. “Even though all of the soldiers are cheering and this is technically a victory… it… doesn’t feel like it. It doesn’t feel like there’s anything to celebrate.

Jean groaned as he leaned his head back, listening to Floch and all of them continuing to chant and cheer. “I can’t believe this doesn’t bother any of them. We still lost seven soldiers. And…the things we’ve done today…”  
Armin glanced at him and his frown deepened. “I agree. Today… we’ve killed so many innocent people…”  
Connie looked down. “And… it’s only the first battle. I wonder how many more there will be to come…”

Several hours later, the blimp was finally descending. It landed and the doors opened, all of the soldiers walking out. The front group was the new soldiers, all the ones that were cheering and excited over the first victory. Since they were new, it was all they thought about – a first victory, a win. But the vetrans… the one who had fought tooth and nail for so many years were all thinking how much longer and harder this fight had become.  
Jean, Tsuki, Connie, and Sasha were sitting on the small hill, watching as several soldiers rounded up the kids who had snuck on board, Zeke and Eren, Clay, and then the Marleyans who had come across the sea and worked with them as soldiers, joined the othesr as they began to head back. They were all greeted by several other military personnel, MPs, who provided them with supplies and served as their escorts. One of the MPs walked the opposite direction, towards the soldiers who had returned.  
Armin and Mikasa were watching as they took away Eren, still in restraints. Leah rubbed Armin’s back. She could sense his feelings of confusion and hurt as he watched his friend.  
Demi stood alone, her back to all of them as she faced away from the walls and the other soldiers. She couldn’t stand to look at Eren right now.  
Kana, Levi, and Hanji stood between all of them as Hanji was reading over a report.  
Connie sighed, “So… do you think all of them are going to feel this bad? Every victory I mean? If so…will winning the war even be worth it?”  
Armin looked down. “Winning the war… means real freedom. Right now… it’s too far away to be hopeful… but… one day it’ll be within our grasp…” He looked at them. “And then we’ll understand why we did this.”  
Despite his words though, it didn’t seem to make any of them feel better. Probably mostly because this decision didn’t feel like one they had made. It felt like it had been made for them.  
“Well, lookie who we found here.”  
Kana glanced over when she heard a familiar voice. Her eyes widened when Hitch walked up to them, fully dressed in her Military Police uniform, but with a little bundle in her arms, resting on her side. The little black haired girl looked at them and immediately raised her arms out, her crimson eyes glowing with joy and she screamed, “Mommy!”  
  
Kana’s entire expression lit up and she eagerly rushed over and lifted the bundle from Hitch’s grasp and raised her into the air. “Isabel! Hey sweetie!” She pulled her in and hugged her while spinning around. “What are you two doing out here?”  
Isabel fanned her hands. “Hitch said she’d bring me out here to see Mommy and Daddy if I was good!”  
Hitch giggled. “Well, as you can guess, she wasn’t, but I still brought her.”  
Kana had just started playfully kissing all over Isabel’s face when the girl was plucked from her arms and Demi spun her around and hugged her close. “There’s my favorite parasite!”  
All at once, all of the others were getting up to their feet. Tsuki whined at Demi and cried, “You’re always taking the longest with my niece, hand her over!”  
Connie laughed when he was able to pluck Isabel first from the dogpile happening on Demi’s back. He trotted away. “Hey you brave kiddo. Why did you wanna come all the way out here? Silly girl.”  
Jean snatched her away and chuckled, “It’s because she’s going to grow up and be fierce and strong like her parents, right?”  
Isabel squeaked, “Yep!”  
Tsuki snuggled the girl out of Jean’s hold and nuzzled her cheek to hers. “You are so cute! You can’t be so fierce and strong and cute all at the same time.”  
Leah laughed when Tsuki set Isabel down and Leah leaned down to her and patted her head. “Don’t listen to her, you can be whoever and whatever you want.”  
Demi wrapped her arms back around Isabel from behind. “Especially if that means she wants to be my child instead.”  
Kana grabbed Demi by the hair and yanked her back, barking, “Stop trying to steal my daughter, you lunatic!”  
Sasha giggled. “She’s just so cute I could eat her up…”  
Connie made a face at her. “You can’t do that, Sasha…”  
Hanji was laughing as the scene before her. “Amazing how they were all so downtrodden a moment ago and one little girl just brightens their spirits right up.”  
Levi was smiling as he watched them. “Yeah. She’s got that affect on people.”  
Hanji put her paper to her lips and chuckled. “Who knew someone like you could make such a cute baby?”  
Levi glared at her. “Can it, Four-Eyes. It’s just cause she got all her looks from her mother.”  
Hanji laughed more.  
Kana smiled as she watched her daughter interacting with the rest of the squad, telling them meaningless little four year old child stories in which they would all react in overexaggerated manners just to earn a laugh and a smile out of them.  
Levi walked over to her and Hitch and glared. “Hey. What were you thinking bringing her out here?”  
Hitch rubbed the back of her neck. “I know. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. You guys both haven’t been gone for this long at one time and she was restless and I just couldn’t tell her no. I thought it would be okay just this once.”  
Kana smirked at her. “Yeah but now she’s going to want you to bring her out to greet us any time we get back. She’s a greedy child.”  
Hitch pouted. “I guess I’ll pay for that. Sorry guys.”  
Levi looked at the squad as he told her, “It’s fine this time. There will be times we have to bring back corpses. Things like that, she doesn’t need to see.”  
Hitch blinked. Kana confirmed. “We want to keep her away from fighting and violence as long as possible. She doesn’t need to grow up like we did.”  
“Yeah.” Hitch agreed. “I get that.”  
The squad was starting to get rowdy so Levi grumbled and walked towards them. Crossing his arms, he barked, “All of you, knock it off.”  
All of them immediately straightened up except for Isabel in Demi’s hands. Demi laughed when the girl suddenly lunged forward and Demi fell forward on her face. Isabel shrieked, “Daddy!” She rushed at him with her arms up while Levi leaned down and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her head into his cheek. His gaze warmed as he kissed her forehead and turned away. To Kana he suggested, “Let’s get back before one of these brats kidnap our daughter.”  
Kana laughed. “Probably a wise choice.”


	148. Funeral

Kana looked down at Isabel as she walked between her an Levi, a hand in each of theirs. She giggled and jumped as they walked down the street back home. It was so refreshing to be in the presence of such a carefree, joyful spirit. It was no wonder she was able to lift the spirits of the entire squad without even trying. Isabel was jumping around, over cracks in the pavement, making games out of it. Kana laughed softly down at her. “Izzy, it’s gonna take us forever to get home at this rate.”  
Izzy giggled. “I know.” She suddenly took a running jump and Kana and Levi both rolled their eyes. They knew what this meant. They lifted their arms so that she could swing herself forward and then back so they were pretty much carrying her while she got a free ride back home. She laughed, “I’m flying!”  
Levi scoffed jokingly, “Oh is that what it is? Coulda fooled me.”  
Izzy jumped again, this time just once over another crack. She looked up at them and asked, “Nana Hitch said you guys did something amazing while you were gone. You did it, right?”  
Kana pursed her lips a bit. What they did was far from amazing. But… they couldn’t tell her that.  
“We did.” Levi told her, casting a look at Kana. “The whole town will probably be celebrating soon.”  
Izzy let out a squeal of delight. “I knew it. My mommy and daddy are the best.”  
They both smiled softly, their egos swelling with her words. She went to skip again, but this time she tripped and fell straight down, pulling her hands out of theirs.  
They stopped and looked at their little girl who sat up and touched her forehead where she had a little cut on it. Her eyes started to glaze over with tears. Kana knelt down. “Are you gonna cry, Izzy?”  
She shook her head.  
Levi knelt down as well. “Do you want to?”  
She shook her head again and puffed her cheeks.  
Kana touched her little shoulder. “Izzy, you can cry if you want to.”  
She sniffled. “No. I wanna be strong… like you guys.”  
Kana sighed softly and Levi gently lifted her up. Kana kissed her cheek and told her, “You can be strong… when you’re older. Right now…you can cry if you’re hurting. Whenever you get hurt…you can cry and we’re going to come running, okay?”  
Isabel nodded.  
Levi added, “And if anyone makes you cry. We’re going to take care of them for you.”  
Kana giggled and held her pinky out to Isabel. “That’s a promise, okay?”  
Isabel sniffed up the last of her tears and wrapped her pinky around her mothers. Her cheeks were a bright pink as she grinned big. “I love you guys…!”  
They kissed either side of her face at the same time. When they pulled back, the little cut on Isabel’s forhead was already gone, nothing left but dirt. Levi glanced at Kana and pulled a clothe out of his jacket and wiped her forehead with it. He whispered, “Guess that confirms it.”  
Kana nodded. “We’ll keep it quiet. I think she’s safe inside the walls, but we still don’t want to announce it.”  
He agreed.

After returning home, Isabel immediately went about running around the house like she normally did, casting her toys about everywhere. Levi’s brow furrowed with irritation and he started picking up the ones she wasn’t occupied with while Kana dropped down on the couch with a heavy sigh. The second she did, Levi glared back at her and asked, “Are you going to change out of those filthy clothes first?”  
Kana laughed. “No. I’d rather drive you nuts for a while.”  
Levi huffed and returned to putting up the toys. Kana giggled and leaned her head back, letting out a sigh of relief. When she did, red mist started to form off her skin until the form of Meria took shape and solidified. She let out a girlish giggle and found Isabel and began to coo and coddle her. “There’s my adorable grand-daughter. You are just the cutest little thingggg…!”  
Isabel laughed and giggled.  
Kana rolled her eyes and complained, “Mom… you’re filling her ego as bad as the rest of the squad.”  
Meria snickered. “I can’t help it that it’s true.” She mussed Isabel’s hair as she sat down on the couch and nuzzled her nose into the back of her head. “It’s nostalgic, too. This is…the age where I stopped getting to be your mother.”  
Kana looked at her mother before looking away. “You’re still my mom, idiot…You just didn’t get to be around as much.”  
Meria frowned. “I missed your whole life. When I let you go, you were this old… when I find you again, you’re engaged and starting your own family. Raising you meant everything to me and I didn’t get to.”  
Levi walked out, overhearing their conversation and leaned on the back of the couch. “Then make up for it by helping with this brat. _Her_ mother is a bad influence and needs guidance.”  
Kana groaned, “Hhheeeyyy!”  
Levi glared at her. “Get out of those nasty clothes.”  
“I’m too tired.” Kana complained. “It’s fine. I’ll just stay in this spot.”  
Levi glared more and reached over and scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder. “You are not going to lay around being filthy in this house. One natural disaster is enough.”  
Meria laughed and kissed Isabel’s head again. “Your parents are like children.”  
Isabel giggled back, “Yep!”

Demi walked slowly down the steps that led to the basement of the courthouse. There were several guards that were all lined up, but since the retake of Wall Maria, Slayers had been granted the same access as the highest of military personel. None of the guards had batted an eyelash at her when she stepped through and descended the stairs. She was glad none of the guards were in the hall. It meant she would have privacy.  
Her feet brought her to a stop in front of Eren’s cell. He was at the sink on the far wall, scooping water up into his face and pushing his long hair back into a messy bun. His green eyes looked up at her throught the reflection of the mirror.  
She stared at him but she could sense nothing through their connection. It was as though the two of them had never bonded to begin with. A pain filled her chest and she couldn’t keep her eyes on his. Her own green eyes fell to her feet. Reaching out, she squeezed the bars of the cell and whispered, “Eren… tell me something. Anything. Why did you leave? Why didn’t you tell me anything? I could have helped you!”  
“I didn’t need your help.” Eren stated simply. “It was something I had to do on my own. I needed to go and speak with my brother. You would only have gotten in the way.”  
Demi’s eyes widened. “What?” She slammed her fists on the bars. “Open your eyes you damn idiot! I’m a Slayer! How would I have gotten in the way?”  
“Listen to yourself. You’re loud. You would have done something reckless.” Eren argued. He turned and walked up to her. “But I’m back now and I know what I have to do. You have to trust me.”  
Demi’s eyes were trembling. “Trust you? How can I – “  
Eren reached his hand up and touched her cheek. “I’m going to save everyone within the walls. I’ll give us our freedom.”  
She looked down, leaning her head into his hand. His touch that she hadn’t felt so long almost crippled her with emotion. There were tears in her eyes. “I missed you so much, Eren…”  
“I missed you, too.” He told her. “But I need you now more than ever. To save everyone… we’ll have to get our hands dirty. Are you prepared for that?”  
Demi stared at her feet. “I’ve been prepared for that since I was born to the wretch who used her own child as an experiment. I don’t know what she did… but I know she never loved me. The only person in this world that ever cared about me… is you. I’d die for you, Eren.”  
Eren patted her shoulder. “Just what I wanted to hear. For now… don’t do anything. I’m going to wait here. There’s… events that need to be set in motion before I begin my plan.”  
Demi nodded. “You… know how to reach me… when you need me.” She whispered, touching her hand to his chest over his heart.  
He squeezed her hand. “Of course.”

Another day passed.  
Armin looked over at Leah as she stepped into the entry way of their little home. Both of them were dressed in black – Leah with her black dress and Armin with his black suit.   
It was time for the funeral for the soldiers who were lost.   
As soon as Leah came into his vision, he reached out and wrapped his arms around her slender waist and hers came around his neck. No matter what was happening in the world, holding her, and knowing that he could hold her, kept his mind in check. She kept him sane. He stepped away and brushed her hair back behind her ear before he looked down.  
Leah whispered, “Don’t beat yourself up, Armin. I can feel you stressing yourself out. There was nothing we could have done or predicted would happen to prevent this. Please don’t put the responsibility of this on yourself.”  
Armin sighed again. “I know you’re right…but…” His gaze went to the shell they kept on the shelf across from the couch. “I wish, maybe.”  
Leah slid her hands down to his and shook her head. “We all do.”  
They stepped out of their home and began walking down the street. It wasn’t long before they met up with Tsuki and Jean who were also both dressed in black. Then Kana and Levi, who was holding Isabel, and lastly Demi.   
Demi had her arms up behind her head. “I don’t get why you guys are so distraught. It was a very low number of soldiers lost.”  
Jean sighed. “Still as unfeeling as always, Demi.”  
Demi glared back at him. “I’m not unfeeling. Death just doesn’t bother me the same way as it does you guys. I’m thicker skinned.”  
Isabel was making faces over Levi’s shoulder and reaching her arm out as Kana played with her and made faces back. But she told Demi, “Being thick skinned has nothing to do with it. Everyone has different perspectives on what is or isn’t acceptable. The rest of us wanted zero lost lives.”  
Meria suddenly formed beside Kana. “Unfortunately that just isn’t realistic in war.”  
Kana jumped and glared at her mother. “Don’t scare me like that.”  
Meria chuckled.  
They reached the location where families and friends were all gathered and went through the ceremony to respect those who lost their lives. It didn’t last long, but everyone lingered for a while after.  
Mikasa sat behind a tombstone with her face buried in her scarf. Leah frowned. She must have her mind on Clay. They had finally found him again only to throw him in cuffs and in jail. She knew they had no choice, but she knew how she’d feel if someone had done that to Armin so she couldn’t blame her for being upset.   
But honestly it seemed like Armin was taking his harder than anyone. He wouldn’t look up and eyes were just glazed over.  
Tsuki smiled as she walked up to Kana and put her hand on her friends shoulder. “It’s nice that you and your mom have worked out your differences enough in the last four years that you can stand to be next to each other.”  
Kana grumbled and glared at her friend. “I can only stand it. Besides. I don’t have much choice since she pretty much resides within me most of the time.”  
Meria snickered, her arms behind her back. “You just won’t admit you have a soft spot for your mother.”  
Kana hissed, “Get lost, I do not.”  
Tsuki laughed. “I think she might be on to something, but you guys were pretty much at odds for a while taking back Wall Maria.”  
Kana huffed and looked down.

**  
“Did that not seem like something worth mentioning!?” Kana hissed.  
Kana, Meria, and Levi were standing outside the courthouse after the meeting to discuss whether or not to disclose the information in the books to the public. They had walked down just a little ways to a less crowded street near the waterline and Meria was leaning on the rail that lined it. She wasn’t looking at her daughter. She simply answered with, “I wasn’t allowed to.”  
Kana’s brow twitched in annoyance, “Because the king ordered it?! The same king that ordered the murder of my father!?”  
Levi put his hand on her lower back and gave her a scolding look. “Calm down, Kana. You shouldn’t be stressing yourself out right now.”  
Kana huffed, but her glare stayed on her mother.  
Meria sighed, but wouldn’t turn to look at either of them. “I know you don’t understand or think it’s fair. But we each have to play our part in this stupid game called life. I can’t afford to disobey the king as long as I’m breathing.”  
“More loyal to the king than your own child, huh?” Kana asked.  
Meria felt her skin prickling and she gripped the rails, finally turning and looking at her, but her crimson eyes were heated with fury. “Will you stop seeing everything so black and white!? You act like you’re still a child! There are things I can’t do or explain and you guilting me is not going to change that! I already told you more than I should have and that’s not enough for you!”  
Kana was getting more and more enraged by the moment. “Then you need to stop acting so damn ritcheous! Because you’re not! Right now, I don’t even know if you’re friend or foe! You won’t tell me anything that makes me believe I can depend on you! In fact I’m doubting more and more the decision I made to use you as a weapon.”  
Meria growled back, “There _wasn’t_ a choice and you know it. You’re just lucky I made it back in time. If I hadn’t, all of you would be dead.”  
Kana’s eyes were wide and then narrowed drastically. “We don’t owe you a damn thing. I took pity on you. The only thing you’ve done right is be a powerful weapon. You failed completely at being a mother.”   
She roughly shoved by her mother and stormed off down the road, Levi trotting after her. After a little ways of being out of earshot, without looking at him, Kana stated, “You disapprove.”  
“I didn’t say that.” He argued.  
“Didn’t have to. I can feel it.” Kana stated.  
Levi sighed. “I don’t disagree with what you said. At all. I feel the same way. It’s hard to trust her when she gives us so little to believe in. But. She’s still here and she’s still alive. You have the opportunity to make amends and understand each other.”  
Kana puffed her cheek. “Yeah. I know but… after everything…”  
“You’re angry that she abandoned you into this hell. That’s fair. But she’s back and you have the chance to longer feel abandoned. It feels like your pride is stopping you from seeing this opportunity. I never knew my father and my mother died as a child. I don’t get a second chance with them. You get one with your mother.”  
Kana grumbled and glared at him. “Do you know how much it sucks when you make sense?”  
Levi smirked. “It’s what I’m here for.”  
She shoved her hands in her pockets. “I get it. I’m just not ready to forgive her and take that second chance yet.”  
Levi watched her. “Titans may not be at our doorstep anymore, but that doesn’t mean that tomorrow is suddenly a garauntee now, Kana.”  
“I know. I just…” She rubbed the side of her neck. “I’m hurt and I’m mad. I can’t do it yet.”  
He reached his hand over and took hers, bringing her knuckles up to his lips and kissing them softly. “I understand. It’s a decision you must make. As your fiancé, I’ll support you.”  
Kana smiled at him. “I know you will.”  
**

Kana put her hands on her hips. “She gave me every reason to be pissed off at her. I refuse to take all the blame for the status of our relationship at that point.”  
Meria rolled her eyes and turned to Levi, holding her hands out. He rolled his eyes and handed off Isabel who immediately wrapped her arms around Meria’s neck and held on, snuggling closely with her grandmother. “Yes yes. Then this little sugarplum came along and drilled some common sense into you.”  
“The word you’re looking for is pity. I took pity on you.” Kana corrected.  
“Oh whatever.” Meria stated. “You just couldn’t keep me from my grand child.”  
Kana rolled her eyes. “Just cause I’m pissed off at you, doesn’t mean Izzy has to pay for it.” She looked at Levi. “Besides, someone else is rather persuasive.”  
Tsuki glanced over at the families that were still at some of the tombstones. “Think we should take our crew back into town? We should let these families mourn in privacy.”  
“Agreed.” Kana stated. She started to head out with them when Demi walked between them, plucking Isabel out of Meria’s arms and trotting off ahead of them. Kana shouted and chased after her, “Demi get back here right now!”  
Demi sang, “Sorry kana, I’m going to take my child for a bit.”  
Kana shouted, “Stop trying to steal Izzy!”


	149. News

Kana opened up the door, surprised to see Tsuki and Jean on the other side. She tipped her head and pulled her messy crimson hair back into a bun and asked, “What are you guys doing here? Our meeting isn’t for another hour.” 

Tsuki was slow to answer. “There’s... something I wanted to discuss.” 

“Well that’s morbid sounding.” 

Kana glanced back and opened the door on up to reveal Demi already sitting on the couch in the living room. Kana sighed, “Guess there’s a lot of questions from all sides. So be it. Come on in. Want some tea?” 

“Yes please.” Tsuki stated. She frowned a bit as she stepped inside. She had wanted to discuss things with Kana in private, but she supposed it couldn’t be helped. It did make her wonder what Demi had come here to discuss. She knew for a fact it wasn’t the same topic she had in mind. Both she and Jean pulled their shoes off and set them in a neat row out of the way of the door. She knew better than to not set them properly, her and Jean had both made that mistake once when coming to visit. 

Levi stepped out from the stairs and glared at them. Speak of the devil. He scowled, “Oi, the meetings are at headquarters. Not here. Don’t make these early visits so routine.” 

Tsuki squeaked, “Yes sir! Sorry Captain!” 

He glared more. “Enough. I’m not your captain any longer.” 

Tsuki laughed. “Right. Sorry. Tough habit to break.” 

Kana dropped down on the couch after setting another glass of tea down. “Ignore him. Izzy woke us up super early this morning, we’re both cranky.” 

Levi glared at her. “Watch it.” 

Jean chuckled at Tsuki and told her, “Good luck.” He gave her a swift peck before he headed back for the door. Levi started to follow him out the door before he asked Kana, “Hitch hasn’t shown up yet. Keep an eye on Izzy.” 

Kana fanned her hand. “Since my whole squad decided to show up here, I’ll just wait to leave till she gets here.” 

Demi whined, ”I’m so jealous that Hitch gets to babysit Izzy while you guys work.” 

Kana arched a brow. ”It can’t be you, you’re _on my squad_. Which means you’d never be available when we need someone to watch over her.” 

Tsuki sat down on the other side of Kana and leaned back and asked, “What made you decide to choose Hitch, anyway?” 

Kana looked at her cup of tea. “It’s... complicated actually.” She looked at Tsuki. “Besides. We came here to discuss your needs.” 

Tsuki smiled. “I want to hear this story first. Then we can get on to my issue.” 

Kana sighed. “Alright... fine...” She pointed her finger from over her cup of tea. “Remember when Izzy was born?” 

Demi scoffed. “How could we forget?” 

 

**Demi was sitting at the top of the hill, looking down into the training area. They had been busting their ass all week with different squad leaders coming in and training them on new techniques. She didn’t really care – most of them let the Slayers be. Demi was _supposed _to be filling in while Kana was out of commission. Her sort of filling in was sitting with the girls and watching the guys get roughed up on practice drills. But speaking of out of commission, she could not believe how big Kana had gotten. She was going to pop any day. Demi laughed, thinking about how her last interaction with the red slayer had been nothing but angry cranky pregnant woman complaints.__**

**__Beside Demi, Leah giggled when Jean and Eren started to argue for the hundredth time. “Those two will never lay off, will they? Where’s Tsuki when you need her?”_ _ **

**__Demi made a face. “Why Tsuki? I’m here.”_ _ **

**__“Yeah but you _encourage _them.” Leah teased.___ _ **

**____Only a moment later did the light-haired slayer coming flying into the training field. She landed and dropped to her knees, panting. All of them rushed up to her, worried something was wrong. She got back up with Jean’s help but she fanned her hand. “I’m fine. I’m fine. But...” She looked at Demi, “Kana had her baby! I rushed over as fast as I could.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi’s eyes widened. “What!? Let’s go then! C’mon fly me back!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki was gasping, “No, I have no energy left... I gotta... walk...!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi growled and lifted her up over her shoulder, “The hell you are!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Jean gasped and shouted at her, “Demi! Put her down, dammit!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Eren laughed, “There is no way you’re going to convince her to change her mind once she’s set to it!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Connie pushed both of them forward, “Would you guys shut up! We got a baby to go see!”_ _ _ _ **

**____ _ _ **

**____Levi stepped out of another room and into the main room of the infirmary but came to a dead stop when he saw that almost every seat was filled. His brow twitched in annoyance. “Oi...What the hell are all of you doing here?” His glare turned pointedly at Tsuki who had been the only one here when he was last in the room._ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki clasped her hands, “I’m so sorry! But I wanted everyone to know and we all rushed back over.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi pushed past Tsuki, pushing her over one of the chairs and holding herself up on her back. “Enough of the chitchat, details! Tell us about the little disease! Let’s see em!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi cringed away from all the eager eyes and he clicked his tongue and looked away._ _ _ _ **

**____A laugh erupted from the doorway. “Easy now, all of you. You’ve gone and made him uncomfortable.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi grumbled. “You’re here too, shitty four-eyes?”_ _ _ _ **

**____Hanji laughed. “Moblit saw the heard rushing to the infirmary so we just assumed what was going on.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi cried and yanked on Tsuki’s hair. “Come on! Just bring the little parasite out so we can see them! The suspense is literally killing me!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki whined in pain. “No, it’s killing _me_!” _ _ _ _ **

**____Levi grumbled and glared at all of them._ _ _ _ **

**____Leah raised her hands. “Come on, just let us in for a few minutes. We just wanna see the baby.”_ _ _ _ **

**____He looked away. “None of you are going in there. But.” He sighed. “I’ll be right back.”_ _ _ _ **

**____All of them cheered with excitement but Levi turned back and snarled, “Shut up! Kana needs to rest. If you’re going to be loud, I’ll throw all of you out.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi covered Tsuki’s mouth. Tsuki shoved her hand in her face to get her away._ _ _ _ **

**____Levi sighed and stepped back into the door he had just walked out of. A couple of the nurses were shuffling about, cleaning things up but he walked past them and sat on the edge of the bed. Kana was asleep with her frayed hair everywhere and her arm resting protectively over the swaddled child that lay only a couple inches from her face. The little hand was wrapped soundly around her finger. He huffed and looked away, starting to change his mind – even if it meant disappointed all those eager faces outside the door. He started to get back up when Kana’s eyes fluttered open._ _ _ _ **

**____She looked up at him curiously and he sighed. “There’s visitors. They wanna see the brat.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Kana smiled weakly. “Oh. Tsuki couldn’t wait, huh? Tell them they can come in.”_ _ _ _ **

**____“No.” Levi argued. “You need to rest. I’ll take her out there.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Kana sighed and her crimson gaze turned on the little face laying next to her. “Alright.” She agreed reluctantly. “Don’t be gone long...”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi nodded and carefully lifted up the little bundle and walked back out of the room. As soon as he closed the door behind him, gasps went up. He stepped forward just as the entire squad swarmed him, all of them trying to lean in and see. He told them, “Her name is Isabel. She’s 4.7 pounds.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki gasped, “She’s so tiny!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi glared at her._ _ _ _ **

**____She covered her mouth and Demi laughed out loud. She pushed by the other slayer and made grabby hands. “Gimme gimme gimme.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi immediately pulled away from her and his glare intensified._ _ _ _ **

**____Hanji put her hands on her hips. “Levi...”_ _ _ _ **

**____His glare turned on Hanji. She sighed. “We’re all going to be careful, don’t worry.”_ _ _ _ **

**____He gritted his teeth but finally – very reluctantly – handed Isabel off to Demi. Demi stepped back, her eyes wide as she looked at the little girl wrapped in the black blanket. Tsuki was right next to her, oogling at her sweet little face. Tsuki sniffed, “She is the cutest little thing...”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi looked at her over her shoulder. “Are you crying?”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki seethed, “No! Are you?”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi turned her back on Tsuki and growled, trying to keep her own emotions in check. “No. I am not crying.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Eren stepped up and held his finger out. “Hard to believe all of us were this small at one point.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Isabel swung her hand around when the finger was close enough and grabbed it, squeezing tight. His gaze softened._ _ _ _ **

**____Demi looked up at Eren and saw his soft eyes and her own heart raced a bit. If they had a kid, too, would they be cute just like this one?”_ _ _ _ **

**____Connie and Sasha trotted up and held their hands out. “Come on, next, next, next!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Jean pushed them back. “Wait your turn! Next is Tsuki and then me.”_ _ _ _ **

**____“What why you!?” Connie demanded._ _ _ _ **

**____Levi, teeth gnashing, started forward to take his daughter back when Hanji grabbed his collar and pulled him back. “Tone down the parental instincts, Levi. She’s safe. None of them are dumb enough to accidentally hurt your child in front of you.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki let out a gasp when Isabel was in her arms and her eyes opened. “Oh my gosh...! Her eyes are so red...! Just like Kana’s...!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi jumped back up against Tsuki’s back and looked. “Ohh! That’s it! I claim god-mother. I’m adopting the little stinker.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki snapped at her. “The hell you are! I don’t think so! I get that title!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi snickered, “Oh please. I knew about the parasite first so she’s all mine.”_ _ _ _ **

**____As Isabel made her round through the arms of her new family, Hanji teased Levi, “You must be so proud.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi’s arms were crossed tightly and he looked away, clicking his tongue. But the softest dusting of pink lingered on his cheeks. Levi started to snap something at her when Isabel started crying._ _ _ _ **

**____Connie gasped, “Look what you did, Eren, you scared her!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Eren was shaking his head. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Tsuki reached her hands out, “Here let me have her back.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Demi pushed the other slayer away. “No give her to me, I can calm her down. I - “_ _ _ _ **

**____They all dead stopped when Levi marched up to them, a dark scowl on his face. Eren, trembling with fear, held Izzy out for him to take back._ _ _ _ **

**____Levi scooped her back up into his arms and tried to calm her down, but it wasn’t working. He cursed and headed back for the door. Before he opened it, he scowled at all of them, “If that’s all, the rest of you can leave.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Jean seethed at Eren. “Good job, idiot.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Eren gasped, “I didn’t make her cry! I think she got a look at your stupid horse mug!”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi shut the door to their arguing and grumbled. He looked up and saw that Kana was already sitting up with her arms out. He sighed and brought Isabel over and handed the crying child off as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Sorry. It got a little too rowdy out there for her.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Kana chuckled softly and snuggled Isabel into her chest who immediately stopped crying and nuzzled up to her mother. “It’s fine. I couldn’t go back to sleep without her anyway.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Levi scowled more. “I should have just told those brats no.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Kana giggled. “You know damn well they wouldn’t have let up until you said yes.” She sighed and lay back down, resting Isabel beside her, playing with her soft little hands._ _ _ _ **

**____Levi leaned over, brushing her hair back and kissing her temple. “I’ll leave you to rest. I’ll be back in a bit.”_ _ _ _ **

**____Kana nodded, taking only a few moments for her eyes to close and fall asleep._ _ _ _ **

**______ _ _ ** __

__

__Tsuki leaned back on her elbow and asked, “So... what’s Izzy’s birthday have to do with why you picked Hitch?”_ _

__Kana was quiet a moment, remembering, and then she carried on, “Cause... I had another visitor.”_ _

__

___ _

__**The nurse opened the door as another person stepped in. Kana was nursing Isabel with a blanket over her chest and shoulder when she looked up to see who it was that had come in. She was surprised that it wasn’t a face she was as familiar with as most others. The woman with the short, curly white blonde hair stepped in, clutching a bag to her chest. She whispered, “Sorry to barge in unannounced. I came here for some medicine for my mom... and I heard that you had your baby... I thought...I wanted to come see. Considering you’re one of the 13 who came back.”** _ _

__**Kana watched as Hitch sat down next to her bed, her hands resting in her lap. Her eyes wouldn’t meet Kana’s. Even without a connection to her, though, Kana knew exactly what she was thinking. Who she was thinking about. The words were written all over her face.** _ _

__**Placing her hand on Izzy’s back, Kana whispered, “It’s only been six months since it happened. I’m certain it still feels as fresh as if it happened yesterday. I...can’t justify the loss of all those men and women. I can’t say that we’ve paid proper retribution for their sacrifice.”** _ _

___ _

__**Levi started back to the room Kana and Isabel were in when he saw the door was open and he could hear talking inside.** _ _

___ _

__**Hitch sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean - “** _ _

__**Tears started to slip down Kana’s cheeks. “But I can say this: I owe everything to all of them. Every decision that was made that day is what allowed me to be right here... to be able to see my child... If they hadn’t selflessly all given their lives... so Levi could hold back the beast titan, none of us would have made it back. All of us slayers were worn out... we couldn’t have won against him. We would have lost everything that day...” Kana wiped her eyes with her free hand. “So even though I can’t say anything noble about their sacrifices...I can selfishly say that I owe today to them. Every single one of them. I’m sure that... doesn’t make you feel better... but...it’s how I feel. Because of him... and everyone else...I got to meet Isabel.”** _ _

__**Kana lifted the blanket and gently unlatched Izzy from herself and wiped her mouth with the towel.** _ _

__**Hitch stared at her for several moments before her gaze softened and she shook her head. “No...I think... that’s perfect. Marlow was... obsessed with doing the right thing...There’s... nothing more fitting than this...He would be so happy to know that such a beautiful baby got to see the light of day because of his actions.” She walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, gently holding her finger to Izzy who clutched it tight. “Isabel is such a precious name...”** _ _

__**“Yeah...” Kana agreed.** _ _

__**Hitch picked up her bag and told her, “I won’t keep you. I’m sure you need more rest. I just...wanted to see her. Since he couldn’t.” She stepped outside the door.** _ _

__**Not even a moment later, Levi walked back in, taking her place on the edge of the bed. His gaze fell to Izzy who was already back to being sound asleep in Kana’s arms. Levi grumbled quietly, “I think everyone in Sina has been here today.”** _ _

__**Kana smiled. “She has a lot of fans for being less than one day old. I think that’s mostly your fault.”** _ _

__**He scowled. “Why?”** _ _

__**She giggled, “Everyone in the walls knows you, _Humanity’s Strongest_. They all wanna see her.” She brushed her fingers along Izzy’s cheek. “She’s so beautiful though...I’m so proud.” ** _ _

__**He smirked before leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. “Kana.”** _ _

__**She glanced at him and tipped her head. ”What’s up?”** _ _

__**“During that fight...” Levi admitted. “There was a moment where I didn’t think we’d make it back. When Erwin said nothing of a plan, when he did nothing but boast the enemies tactics. I had come back from the battlefield as the only survivor so many times...I thought my own time had finally come. But it was also... the first time I wasn’t ready to give my life yet. I tried to think of anyway I could get you back inside the walls safely...but I wasn’t satisfied. I hesitated. Because I wanted to see our child. Because I wanted this day to come. It...reminds me of what I keep telling you, but sometimes I forget to heed it myself. There isn’t always tomorrow. Not in this shitty world.”** _ _

__**Kana looked down at Izzy. She sympathized with everything he was saying. But it also... wasn’t a great feeling.** _ _

__**He sat up a bit, but his back was still to her. “So... what I’m trying to get to...is... no more waiting. Once you’re feeling better... let’s get married.”** _ _

__**Kana’s eyes widened a bit before softening and a smile coming to her lips. “I would love that...”** _ _

__**He finally looked at her, a small smirk on his lips before he added, “I’m there’s plenty of the brats that would agreed to watch our brat while we made arrangements.”** _ _

__**Kana giggled. “Okay, Rivi. Let’s do it.”** _ _

__****_ _

__

__Demi scowled. “What does that conversation have to do with picking her to watch over Izzy? Are you trying to say you did it out of pity?”_ _

__Kana shook her head. “No. I actually wasn’t thinking about a babysitter at all at that point. But that’s always the conversation I thought of when I did make the decision.”_ _

__“Okay...then tell us already!” Demi complained impatiently._ _

__Tsuki grumbled at her, “Don’t rush the story, Demi!”_ _


	150. Hitch

Kana sighed, leaning her cheek in her hand as she watched Isabel come running around the couch and jumped up into her lap. She headbutted Kana right in the stomach and she let out a grunt. “Fuck. Child. Your head is hard as rocks. Chill.” 

Isabel giggled and made herself comfortable. 

Tsuki gave her a playful look. “Shouldn’t you be more careful of your language?” 

Kana arched a brow and mocked. “It’s one thing to get me to watch my tongue. Have you _listened_ to Levi talk? This girl is going to grow up with the foulest mouth and I’ve already accepted it.” 

Tsuki smiled. “Good point. So, carry on!” 

Kana rolled her eyes. “Well I think you guys know most of the rest of it. Except when we brought Izzy home the first time.” 

 

**Kana held Izzy close as she and Levi walked home from the infirmary. It was later in the evening and temperatures were beginning to cool. Levi had forced her to wear two coats and they had wrapped Izzy from head to toe in blankets. When a brisk breeze picked up, Kana pursed her lips and Levi reached over and pulled her scarf up over the bottom half of her face. He glared at her, “It’s not doing much good if you don’t wear it properly.”**

**Kana started to snap playfully back at him when she saw someone standing beside the door of their home. Not really a surprise to her. But they had kept their distance from each other since the hearing after returning from Wall Maria.**

**Meria crossed her arms and looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. Because of that, it was hard for Kana to read her expression. She felt herself bristling, already prepared to start an argument but when when the bundle in her arms shifted, her gaze fell. Isabel let out a yawn and curled up more in Kana’s arms. Her eyes trembled for a moment before softening.**

**Levi looked at Kana and told her, “Argue if you must, but the two of you are doing it inside, out of the cold.”**

**When Meria finally looked at them, there was the faintest glimmer of hope in her red eyes and Kana nodded, following Levi inside. He took his boots off quickly, setting them aside before holding his arms out for Isabel so Kana could remove hers. Meria started to walk past them when Levi cleared his throat.**

**She stopped and looked back and Kana laughed. “Shoes off or he’ll cut you up like a titan.”**

**Her gaze fell to the floor, seeing that there wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere and she quickly backtracked and removed her shoes, putting them with the others.**

**Once they were all inside, jackets and clothes shedded so they could get comfortable, Kana carried Isabel to the couch and sat down. Meria hung back, away from them but remained quiet. The tension in the air was thick. Finally, Meria sighed and pulled the trigger, “I thought you’d at least tell me when you had her. Regardless of how much you hate me, she’s still my granddaughter.”**

**Kana glared at her mother for several seconds. She hated how the woman just wanted her to overlook every wrong doing and pretend the only fact in the world was that they were blood related and that was all that mattered. If she wasn’t pulling punches, then she wouldn’t either. “Yeah and I don’t intend to abandon her to a life of misery like you did.”**

**Meria’s demeanor bristled. “You saw the memories! You saw why I did it! How can you know all of that and still hate me!?”**

**“Really!? You don’t get it!?” Kana snapped back. “You don’t understand why I’m bitter about being alone almost my entire life and you show back up and want forgiveness!? I’m sorry you’re too incompetent to understand!”**

**When their voices began to rise, Levi stepped back into the living room, “Oi. If you children keep shouting, she’s going to start crying and I’ll kick you both out for the evening and you’ll be stuck with only each other.” His eyes narrowed. “Make it a productive argument or else you’ll accomplish nothing.”**

**Meria glared at him, her arms tightening. “There’s nothing to accomplish here. I shouldn’t have even tried to come here. I should have known that there would be no getting through to -”**

**Levi started to open his mouth but Kana stood up.**

**All of them went quiet as she walked over and held Isabel out to Meria. Meria was quiet for several seconds and Kana ordered, “Hold her.”**

**Meria hesitated still, feeling like it was some sort of trap. Despite that though, she carefully reached her arms out and when the fragile bundle was placed in her grasp, she pulled her in and gently moved the blanket away so she could see her face. A gasp left her when that little face opened her eyes just a bit before closing them and quickly falling back to sleep. Before she realized it, there were tears running down her cheeks and she struggled to stand up. Kana walked her to the couch and helped her sit down before she, herself, sat down on the coffee table across from her.**

**Kana crossed her arms over her knees and told her, “You regret what you did so I can’t ever forgive you for it. I will never forgive you.”**

**Meria closed her eyes, her shoulders beginning to shake as she started to sob.**

**Kana watched her, seeing how painful it was for her, but they had to get through this. Levi was right. There were people who didn’t get the chance to make amends with their parents. If tomorrow, she lost this chance with her mother, she knew she’d regret it. But she wasn’t going to sugarcoat things. It was important to her that Meria understood how she felt. “This whole time... I hated you. I hated you because I didn‘t know why. Because I was alone. I lost the family you dropped me off with and then I struggled to survive while taking care of three siblings. I hated everything and blamed it all on you.”**

**Meria was shaking her head. “It was my fault. All of it was.”**

**Kana stared at her for a moment before she carried on. “I’ve been thinking about those feelings I had after I saw your memories during that battle. I’ve separated myself from you because I had to sort out what I really thought. From my perspective...I didn’t feel I was wrong. I felt that I didn’t ever have to accept you as my mother because you threw it away. But...” Kana’s gaze went to Isabel. “There was a perspective I wasn’t willing to accept....until now. What would I do... if I was in the same situation as you?”**

**Meria looked up at her.**

**“If I lost everything... and the only way to protect the daughter I love more than anything would be to remove myself from her life and hide her where she wouldn’t be found?” Kana repeated. “I realized... I would do the same thing... and accept that she would hate me for it. When I realize this... I find that...I can’t hate you anymore. Not for that. What I can hate you for... is that you haven’t once said that you’re sorry for it. That you’re sorry I had to grow up alone.”**

**“Because I’m not, Kana.” Meria told her. “I will never be sorry that the choice I made gave you a chance to live.”**

**Kana’s eyes widened a bit. If Meria hadn’t made that decision then... she would never have come to these walls – she would never have met all of her friends...Levi...and Isabel wouldn’t be here now. Kana looked down for a minute before she sighed. “I still can’t forgive you. But... no matter how I feel...I will never keep you from your granddaughter. Okay?”**

**Meria gently touched Isabel’s face and ran her fingertips along the plush cheek. She whispered, “I’m okay with that. But... Since I can’t take back the years I failed as your mother... will you... let me start now...?”**

**Kana clicked her tongue and looked away.**

**Meria gasped, “Where the hell did you learn that attitude from!?”**

**Levi immediately made himself scarce.**

**Meria grumbled, “Guessing your foul tongue and sharp attitude have come from spending so much time with him, hm?”**

**Kana snickered and reminded her, “Now. You getting to start being my mom does not give you permission to start condescending my choice of fiance.”**

**Meria smiled. “Yes I can. But in the end, I approve. I mean look how cute your little girl is.” She paused. “She looks just like you did when you were born.”**

**Kana’s eyes widened a bit before a blush covered her cheeks before a warm, genuine smile spread on her lips. “Good to know she’ll curse me when she’s older then.”**

****

 

Demi flicked her hand. “So _that’s_ when you and your mom started getting along again. I was wondering. The two of you just up and all of a sudden seemed friendly. It was bizarre.” 

Tsuki nudged Kana. “It was very adult of you.” 

Kana rolled her eyes. “Yeah well getting mom on board, of course, still didn’t solve the main problem which came to full steam six months later.” 

 

**Kana was laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Beside her, on the blanket, Isabel was playing with a couple of her toys and rolling around in her roller. Every now and then she would reach over and pull the little girl back over to the mat so she wouldn’t roll somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. She sighed as she sat up and leaned her back on the couch and watched her play. She’d already cleaned the place twice over. All she was doing every day was this. Of course she loved watching Isabel, but hearing second hand all of the advancements the soldiers were planning and working on second hand from Levi was driving her insane. She wanted... _needed_ to be there with them, helping to plan for what she worked so hard to help them get to. **

**She looked up when the door opened and upon seeing who it was, she hummed, “Welcome home, Rivi.”**

**Levi pulled his boots off and gave her an odd look. “Thanks.” He stepped around the couch and Kana gasped and rushed over to pick up a stray toy before he saw it. He gave her a playfully scolding look before he lifted up Isabel and set her in his lap. He kissed the top of her head before looking at his wife. “Something on your mind, Kana?”**

**Kana arched her brows before she sighed. “Yes.”**

**He leaned back, crossing a leg over his knee and stretching arm out as he gently bounced Isabel, earning a giggle out of her. “Well we can’t solve it if you don’t tell me what it is.”**

**Kana climbed up on the couch and crossed her legs as she sat beside him. “It’s going to sound bad, so don’t judge me too much, okay?”**

**He hummed.**

**She took a deep breath. “I’m _losing my mind_. I love Isabel but I... need to get back out there. You guys have started making contact with people from across the sea and I want to be out there helping make decisions. I’m not meant to be a stay at home mom. I want to be out there making the changes that will shape her future. Not sitting around waiting for you to tell me about them.” **

**Levi watched her for a moment before a smirk formed on his lips. “You lasted longer than I expected.”**

**“Huh?” Kana repeated.**

**“I’ve never seen a wildfire contained.” He told her. “I knew it was a matter of time before you’d want back on the field. And I support you entirely. But. We can’t leave Isabel home alone. We need someone who can watch over her. Someone we can trust. And everyone we trust is on my squad. It doesn’t work out well.”**

**Kana huffed. “I know. I have to figure something out. I just... wanted to see how you felt first.”**

**“I’ve told you a thousand times, I support any decision you make. Just as you’ve always supported me. But your little ‘announcement’ isn’t really a surprise to me. The only surprise is that it took this long.”**

**Kana sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder as she told him, “I lasted longer because she has the cutest face in the world.”**

**On cue, Isabel threw her arms up and let out a squeal. Both Kana and Levi smiled warmly she climbed in closer and nuzzled up against Levi’s chest.**

**Kana yawned as she walked into the little store down the street. She had managed to make a mess that morning in the kitchen when Izzy was feeling especially rambunctous and didn’t want to be let down and she’d been unable to balance pouring some milk out for her. By the end of it, the milk was all of the kitchen floor.**

**As Kana grabbed a bottle of milk, she teased Izzy, “You’re lucky your father wasn’t home or you’d have one less parent.”**

**Izzy, having no idea what she was saying, giggled. Kana grumbled, “Oh, it’s funny?” She started hand the woman some coins when Izzy leaned in her hold and Kana stumbled back, trying ot keep her from falling. “Oi, knock it off, Izzy.”**

**A couple hands landed on Kana’s back, stabalizing her. A soft giggle came from behind her. “You’ve certainly got your hands full, Kana.”**

**Kana turned to see Hitch standing there, a playful smile on her face. Kana smiled back. “Long time no see, Hitch.”**

**Hitch nodded. “I see the little one is keeping you on your toes.”**

**Kana shrugged, “Unfortunately. Who knew kids were such a handful.”**

**Hitch laughed. “I did. I have tons of siblings and a 40 year old mother with a full head of white hair. She never fails to remind us that it’s our fault.” She took Kana’s bag and stated, “I’ll carry your stuff back for you.”**

**Kana paused. “Actually... would you like lunch? I could use a little more time outside the house.”**

**Hitch smiled.**

**Hitch laughed out loud. “You weren’t kidding, Kana. You really do need a change of scenery. Do you have any stories that _don’t_ involve child vomit?” **

**Kana grumbled. “No. On top of that I have to make sure it’s clean before Levi gets home or I’ll be scrubbing the whole house all evening.”**

**Hitch laughed more. “As strict at home as he is out in the field, huh?”**

**“More so.” Kana laughed. “But I knew what I was getting myself into. To be honest, I could just skip cleaning and he’d do it himself but then I’d feel bad. He’s out working all day and cleaning up after Izzy is about all I have to worry about.” She sighed sadly. “I envy him though. I miss being out there. I miss making a difference.”**

**Hitch went quiet for several moments, her gaze going to Isabel. She whispered, “If both of you are out in the field though, one day Isabel could end up an orphan.”**

**Kana stared at Hitch and saw the cloud of emotion behind her eyes. There were so many unspoken thoughts there and Kana felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She whispered, “I know. But it’s who I am. I want to use the life I’ve been given to give everyone the best chance I can.”**

**Hitch sighed. “You sound like Marlow sometimes. It’s noble of you. But I’d rather just do everything I can to survive. I don’t care as much about the future of humanity like you lot do.”**

**Kana paused at her words and mulled over them for a bit. “You don’t want to end up like Marlow, do you?”**

**Hitch looked down. “No. I still... hate him for going. Idiot.”**

**Thoughts began to grind away inside Kana’s mind. She asked, “Hitch... how dedicated are you to your post?”**

**Hitch scowled. “Excuse me? Are you trying to recruit me? After I just said I don’t - “**

**“No.” Kana fanned her hands. “I...want to hire you. To watch Isabel.”**

**Her eyes widened. Kana explained, “I need someone who will selfishly take my child and hide and from danger no matter what. Someone that I trust will do whatever they can to stay away from a dangerous situation. So that I can be at ease, knowing Izzy won’t end up hurt or... worse.”**

**Hitch sighed. “You want me to babysit?”**

**Kana nodded. “That’s why I’m asking, how dedicated are you? If your position doesn’t matter... we can negotiate your same wage.”**

**Hitch looked at Isabel and there was a spark of life as she reached out and touched the top of Izzy’s head. “Her birth is a direct result of Marlow’s sacrifice... that’s what you said that day.”**

**“I still mean it.” Kana whispered.**

**Hitch felt a weight in her chest. “So if something happened to her... that would be the same as Marlows sacrifice being in vain...”**

**Kana didn’t argue. There were other things that came as a result of his sacrifice, but in this conversation, she was right. Hitch nodded her head. “Yes. I’ll do it. Keeps me off the front lines and if all I have to do is care for the little stinker, I can relax otherwise.” She laughed.**

**Kana smiled brightly at her. “Thank you so much.”**

**Levi was in the den reading the paper for the day and sipping his tea when Kana came rushing in and jumped on his desk, crossing her legs and waiting for him to look up at her. He barely looked up over the top of his tea cup and at her as he grumbled, “What is it?”**

**Kana pulled the newspaper out of his hand and folded it up next to her, earning a grumble from him as he sat his tea down and crossed his arms. She asked, “Do you remember Hitch?”**

**He arched a brow. “The girl in the MPs, right? The one who helped us when we were being framed.”**

**Kana nodded. “I’ve... had a couple conversations with her. I trust her. Would you be open to the idea of her watching over Isabel?”**

**This finally got his attention. “Why her?”**

**Kana told him about their conversation like she’d rehearsed a million times. She and Marlow had earned his trust once, she hoped that it would be easier to sell him this time. After she finished, he waited several long moments before he sighed. “I doubt anyone would live up to my criteria for watching over her. But...if you trust her, then I trust _your_ judgement. We can at least try it for a while and see what happens. We’ll want to talk to Nile about taking one of his soldiers.” **

**Kana nodded, but she was eager about his acceptance. If all of this went well, then she could finally return to duty. But she had to make sure that her eagerness didn’t put Isabel at risk of being with someone careless.**

**Nile looked at them in surprise. “You what? Already?” He looked between Kana and Levi before his gaze landed on Hitch. It lingered for several moments. He sighed heavily. “I can’t say I mind. Our role as Military Police is to protect citizens within the walls. Asking one of the soldiers to watch your child isn’t too far outside our normal realm of jobs. If Hitch is fine with it, I don’t mind. We can shift around some patrols and switch her with the person who’s normally in that area.” He looked at Levi and Kana. “Now. Some citizens would raised a holler if they knew we were assigning a guard to your home alone. I’d ask that we not broadcast this.”**

**Levi nodded. “Of course not. We appreciate you being willing to do this. If you ever need anything from us... don’t hesitate to ask.”**

**Nile smiled. “Yes. I’m certain you’ll hear from me.”**

**They had just started to disperse from his office when Hanji leaned in and smiled at Kana and Levi. “Oh Kana...come with me. We have a surprise for you.”**

**Kana blinked, glancing at Levi who just smirked knowingly before they followed the new Survey Corps commander to her own office. Once inside, Levi shut the door behind them and Hanji all but danced to her desk and pulled out a black box and trotted back around to the front. She had a big grin on her face. “Levi mentioned you were going to be returning to active duty once you guys settled the problem of who would be watching over Isabel. It sounds like it’s all sorted out?”**

**Kana nodded her head, glancing between them. “...yes...? What’s this all about?”**

**Hanji’s smile only widened. “Well. You see. We’ve had some discussions. Considering there was only 13 of us that came back from Zhinganshina, it was a pretty unanimous decision. But unanimous all the same. There’s been a promotion waiting for you, Kana, once you returned to duty.”**

**Kana’s eyes widened. “What?”**

**Hanji opened up the black box to reveal a small golden medallion for her uniform. “When you return, you’ll be returning as a captain – the same rank as Levi – with your own Squad. Tsuki, Leah, and Demi will be reporting directly to you from now on. Do you accept?”**

**Kana’s eyes were wide. “Wait, are you serious?” She looked away from Hanji and at Levi.**

**He smiled at her and nodded his head. “It wasn’t my decision. Hanji suggested it and I agreed with her thought process. The Slayers work and function differently in battle than we do. They should be led by a fellow Slayer.”**

**Hanji nodded. “We also took into consideration the fact that now all four of you can contact each other no matter the distance. It means your two squads would be able to execute plans flawlessly and react accordingly. I thought it was a perfect. When I brought it up to everyone... they were all in perfect agreement.”**

**Kana slowly reached her hand out, taking the box from Hanji who smiled. “You don’t have to take it. It means you’ll be responsible for making decisions that impact their lives. It’s not an easy task I’m asking you to take. But... you’ve already taken responsibility of their lives from the start. I don’t feel your mentality will change. But... there’s no pressure.”**

**Kana nodded her head. She could feel her eyes watering. “I... of course I accept. But... thank you...”**

**Hanji’s smile was warm. “No, _thank you_.” **

**Levi looked at her. “Speaking as your captain and not your husband, it’s well earned. I wouldn’t have recommended anyone else for this.”**

**“I’ll do you all proud. I swear.” Kana promised.**

**Hanji grinned brightly. “Letting people down isn’t something you do, Kana. I have no worries. It’s good to have you back.”**

****

 

Tsuki smiled at Isabel in Kana’s lap. “That makes sense. It just worked out that she and Hitch get along so well.” 

Isabel squealed. ”Nana Hitch gives me treats all the time.” 

Kana giggled, playfully rubbing her knuckle into Izzy’s cheek. “Yeah and how your father hasn’t wrung her neck, I don’t know.” 

Demi smirked. “Let’s be real. If the parasite asked you guys for a treat, you’d probably give it to her, too.” 

Kana made a face. “Don’t get me started. I’ve seen that hypocrite spoiling her.” 

Demi laughed before she turned to Tsuki. “Alright. So now that’s done, what is it you _actually_ came here to discuss?” 

Tsuki was giggling but her expression faltered. “Oh. Right. Yeah. It’s... about my power. The time warp I mean...”


	151. Always Come Back

Kana immediately straightened up when Tsuki said that the topic she wanted to discuss had to do with her own powers. “Okay? What’s going on?” 

Tsuki was fiddling with her fingers for several moments before she took a deep breath. “I... have noticed this before... but it’s never been as distinctive as now. It’s... been getting worse the more and more I use it. But I’m starting to... see things I don’t feel like I should. Things that don’t make sense. And... they typically involve things that I’ve warped with my abilities.” 

Kana crossed her legs and gave her an intent look. “Give me an example – make me understand.” 

Tsuki stared at the ground below her feet before looking away completely. “Sasha. She’s the most recent. The reason I’m coming to you now.” 

Kana nodded, waiting for her to explain. 

Tsuki took a deep breath. “I keep seeing her... dead. I’ve woken up in the middle of the night twice now...and I...” 

Kana’s eyes widened. 

 

**Tsuki smiled as she opened up the gate so a couple of the cattle could move through into the next pasture. She was wearing a dirty summer dress and big thick mudboots. Beside her, Jean was working on throwing some hay into the field next to her. She told him, “We’ve been so lucky to be blessed with such good weather. We’re going to have so much food this year we won’t know what to do with ourselves.”**

**Jean nodded and patted her back. “You’re right. Thank the gods that we were able to extend our land so much after winning the war. The best way we can honor Sasha’s sacrifice is by making sure everyone gets plenty of meat.”**

**Tsuki made a face and looked back at him before giggling. “Jean what are you joking about? Sasha didn’t sacrifice herself. We just saw her yesterday.”**

**Jean frowned, his hand sliding down to her lower back. “Not again.”**

**Tsuki’s eyes widened. “What? Not what again?”**

**He cupped her hands. “Tsukiko...you’re forgetting again. Sasha died during that first battle, remember? She was shot by that girl.”**

**Tsuki’s breath caught in her throat. “No she wasn’t. I turned back time. I fixed that!”**

**Jean gently hushed her, pulling her in to his arms. “No sweetie. You didn’t. You can’t turn back time. No one has that power. We lost Sasha that day. I know it’s hard to take, but it’s true.”**

**Tsuki pushed him back, tears in her eyes. “I’m not making it up, Jean! What are you saying!? Why would you try to make me think I’m crazy? You’re my husband, support me!”**

**Jean stared at her longer before his hands fell. “Tsukiko... I’m not your husband.”**

**Tsuki felt like her blood went cold. “What? Are you saying?”**

**Jean insisted, “Your husband died fighting Eren, remember? Reiner?”**

**Tsuki’s eyes were trembling as she stepped away and cupped her face, suddenly memories filling her head that she couldn’t comprehend. Memories that weren’t hers. She slowly lifted her head back up, but this time, Jean’s body was broken and mangled in front of her.**

**He told her, “In fact, I’m not even here. I died, too, remember? The first time I told you I loved you. It was also the last time that I did.”**

**Tsuki jumped back and screamed.**

**She threw herself out of bed as the scene in front of her disappeared. She was gasping for breath and Jean sat up beside her, his arms immediatley coming around her. His panicked but gentle voice asked, “It’s happening again, isn’t it? Tsuki?”**

**Tsuki’s eyes were shaking. She felt Jeans comforting arms around her, but she couldn’t peel her eyes away from the foot of the bed. Standing there, staring at her with blood all over her torso, was Sasha, her eyes as dead as they come. She leaned forward and slowly started to crawl towards Tsuki.**

**Tsuki let out a scream and threw the blanket at her and backed all the way to the wall. Jean kept a firm hold on her, but was careful not to hurt her. “Tsuki, Tsuki! There’s nothing there, okay? It’s just you and me... take a deep breath! Please. I’m right here. Just come to me!”**

**Tsuki was gasping for breath, almost to the point she was hyperventilating. After several minutes, she finally let her shaky body fall limp against Jean’s bare torso and he pulled her in closer, cooing and stroking her hair. “Tsukiko... it’s okay... it’s okay...”**

**Tears were still falling down her cheeks as she turned her head into his neck and whimpered. “It’s so real....I’m so scared...”**

**Jean’s gaze was soft and he whispered, “We’ve depended on you so much to save our lives by changing time...If I’d known it would hurt you like this...”**

**Tsuki shook her head. “It’s not your fault... I’ll... talk to Kana... maybe her and Meria will know something...”**

****

 

Kana’s eyes were wide. She couldn’t form words to Tsuki’s tragic tale. A moment later, Meria formed out of Kana’s skin and stood beside them. “Tsukiko...” 

“Do you know what’s happening to me?” She asked the older crimson haired woman. 

Meria shook her head. “Not entirely... but... I have a hunch. Based on the way most Slayers powers work, I can assume what’s happening to you is, just as you assumed, a direct result of your time warping abilities. Because _you_ are able to control time, you’ve inadvertantly merged yourself with all of these others timelines. They’re converging on you.” 

Tsuki’s eyes were shaking. “Are you saying... those things are real?” 

Meria’s eyes clouded over with sympathy. “I think they are. I think they’re figments from timelines you’ve broken to fix your own. You’re probably seeing glimpses of pasts and futures of where you didn’t change things.” 

Tsuki was shaking. “Then why are dead bodies coming towards me... why are they moving and - “ 

“Because they’re broken. They don’t have a timeline they belong to. There wasn’t a passage of time that ended their life. They’re stuck in some void of timelessness and you’re the only one with access to it.” 

Tsuki pressed her hands into her face. “Oh god... oh god oh god oh god....!” 

Meria gently wrapped her arms around her. “Hey, hey now, sh-shhhh....” She quietly hushed her. “It’s okay, it’s okay... we’ll figure something out...” She started to say something else when she felt a movement and pulled back as Isabel crawled out of Kana’s lap and into Tsuki’s. 

Tsuki’s eyes widened before she wrapped her arms around the little bundle and began sobbing softly. 

Kana looked at her mother. “So Tsuki needs to stop using her time warp.” 

Meria nodded. “Since I’ve never seen it before... we risk doing something worse. When she used all of her power to pull you out, the times were clashing, converging, breaking, and it felt like everything would fall apart. Right now, Tsuki is a pivot between all these broken timelines. If more pile on, eventually... they could all break and who knows what would happen. It could end our world as we know.” 

Tsuki shook her head, brushing Isabel’s hair back. “I won’t use it anymore...I can tell... that something very bad is happening. I’m terrified. But...I wanted to tell you...so that at the very least... you understand why I can’t use it.” 

Kana shook her head. “I won’t make you use it. I promise. We can talk to Hanji about this and make sure she’s on the same page.” 

 

They had started to head to HQ after Hitch finally showed up to attend their meeting when Tsuki tugged on Kana’s sleeve and pointed to their favorite café. She had a soft smile on her lips. “Since we’re already late, can we stop for a drink?” 

Kana laughed. “You wanna get me in all sorts of trouble, huh?” 

She grinned. 

Demi made a face at them and then rolled her eyes playfully. “Okay if you two are gonna fool around more, I’ll head on and let Leah and the rest of them know you’re coming.” 

Kana waved. “Thanks!” 

They turned and walked into the café and Tsuki made a face. “So... Kana... what was... Demi there to talk about?” 

Kana’s smile immediately dropped. “I’m certain you can guess.” 

She asked, “Eren?” 

Kana nodded. “She’s not taking things well. We’ve all watched her... deteriorate. She’s told me before... how consumed she was with Eren. She didn’t remember meeting or knowing anyone before we came along and Eren was the first one that made her feel wanted. He’s everything to her but since he pretty much just up and abandoned her... I think her mind is in total chaos. I’m worried about her to say the least. She’s desperate to make Eren fall back in love with her.” 

Tsuki stared at Kana in worry. “Do you think... if...if Eren betrayed us...?” 

Kana arched a brow at her. “That she’d go right with him? I...don’t know...” 

Tsuki sighed heavily. “I hope we get to the bottom of whatever is going on with him...” 

“We will. One way or another.” Kana assured. 

 

Kana opened the door to Hanji’s office to see the other half of her squad as well as the Levi squad standing around and talking. Hanji gave her a smile. “There you are.” 

Kana fanned her hand. “Hitch apologizes for being late, for what it’s worth. Though it’s not a sincere apology so don’t take it to heart.” 

Hanji laughed. “No worries. I was just giving updates.” She sat down behind the desk and explained, “As you all know, secondary part of this mission was to gather some of the titan transformation serum that the Marley had. Pixis took custody of it... As well as restrained our partners.” 

Kana’s eyes widened. ”What? The Marleyans who have been helping us?” 

Hanji nodded. “That’s right. I know it isn’t great but... I agree with the decision. Between Eren, Zeke, and the other Marleyans, we’re not certain we can trust them. We made the choice to restrain all three of them. We’re holding Eren in a cell under the courthouse, Pixis is taking care of Yelena and her group of volunteers. As for Zeke, Levi will be spearheading a brigade that will monitor him inside the forest of giant trees.” 

Kana glanced at Levi sharply before looking back at Hanji. “And... how have all of them responded to this?” 

Hanji looked down and away. “I... can’t get a grasp of Eren’s mentality.” She looked at Demi. “You spoke with him, right? What do you think?” 

Demi’s face was blank for several minutes before she finally answered, “I don’t know either. He... won’t speak to me.” 

Hanji sighed and rubbed the back of her head. “And that’s what I was afraid of. I was hoping of all people that you’d be able to get through to him...” 

Jean commented, “Regardless of concern though... to use these types of strong arm tactics...” 

Hanji looked down. 

Armin stated, “It was decided while we were laying low in Marley then? They didn’t inform us, the Survey Corps, about putting the volunteers under house arrest because of our close ties with them.” 

Jean huffed, “I guess they didn’t have any other choice. We’re in a delicate situation so long as we don’t know exactly what Zeke is plotting. And Eren suddenly started going along with Zeke’s plan. He decided on his own to contact Zeke... what did they talk about?” 

Tsuki commented, “We don’t know for sure that Zeke isn’t manipulating him.” 

Demi immediately rejected, “Zeke isn’t manipulating him. He wouldn’t be toyed with. He’s making his own decisions.” 

Hanji frowned more at this. “So then...he’s decided to along with Zeke of his own free will?” 

Demi stiffened and then looked down. 

Kana watched her friend and her eyes narrowed. They’d been together for over four years now, she was keen to the Green Slayer’s mannerisms and there was no doubt that she knew something she wasn’t telling the rest of them. 

Connie grumbled, “If you ask me... the guy we picked up out of Marley doesn’t even look like Eren. He chose his half brother over us? If that’s true... then I think we need to start considering...” 

Demi felt his skin prickle. “Considering what, Connie? Tell me what you’re going to do!” 

Kana put her hand on Demi’s shoulder. “Stop. I understand your feelings, but you have to understand the predicament we’re in, Demi.” 

Demi glared at Kana, her teeth gnashing. She pulled her shoulder away and crossed her arms. 

Levi watched the two of them before commenting to Hanji. “I don’t think he’s wrong. We need to understand whatever plan they’ve concocted and determine for ourselves if our best course of action is leaving the titans in Eren’s hands.” 

Demi snarled, “You all are so quick to mistrust him! I know who he is. I know that he’s our ally, no matter what!” 

“You sure you know him?” Tsuki asked. “You said he won’t talk to you...” 

Sasha rubbed the back of her neck. “I think it’s time we face that he’s not the same guy from a year ago...” 

Connie narrowed his eyes. “The one who said he _wouldn’t_ sacrifice the queen, right?” 

Jean nodded. “They’re right. Normally Eren would always put himself on the frontline, no matter how strong anyone else was. Now he asked Armin to destroy the port of Marley and brought everyone to the battlefield.” 

“That’s out of trust!” Demi barked. “He needed us to do that or nothing would have changed!” 

Armin stated, “If Demi couldn’t get through to him... maybe Mikasa and I can.” 

Levi glared and asked, “What will a discussion with him accomplish?” 

Armin explained, “The one time in the past that Eren used the founders’ power was when he touched Dina, a titan with royal blood and she was eaten by a swarm of titans. That wasn’t Dina’s will, it was what Eren wanted. In other words, while Dina’s titan was a catalyst that activated the founder’s power, she wasn’t the one capable of giving orders. Eren, who had the founder, ordered those titans. This should be the same for the relationship between Eren and Zeke. In that case, whatever Zeke might be planning won’t happen unless it’s what Eren wants, too. Eren’s the one who decides what happens. As long as he shares our goals, it’s not going to be a problem.” 

“Then what if he shares Zeke’s goals?” Jean asked. 

Leah frowned. “Then we’re doomed?” 

Armin went stoic for a moment before he stated, “No. Then we use the serum we recovered from Marley to turn someone else into a titan and have them eat Eren.” 

Demi snarled and charged for Armin, but Kana saw it coming and grabbed her arm and flipped her down, pinning her with a knee to her back. “Drop it, Demi! This isn’t avoidable! Like it or not, if Eren proves to be our enemy, for the sake of mankind, we’re going to have to kill him!” 

Demi glared hatefully up at the Red Slayer. 

Armin assured, “Don’t worry Demi. We’ll do everything we can to figure out his true motives and prove he’s on our side...” 

Hanji frowned as she watched Demi get up after Kana let her go. “I know you don’t agree with this, Demi, but... this is the best we’ve got...” 

Demi rubbed her cheek. “Yeah. I get it.” 

Kana looked at Hanji and added, "Now that we've sorted out that discussion, there's something else. News that Tsuki told me of."

Hanji glanced at the Blue Slayer before listening to Kana and Tsuki explain the current state of her powers. Most of them, except Jean and Demi who already knew, were surprised to hear about her powers.

At this revelation, Hanji agreed, "I think it makes sense to not use your powers any more until we understand the impact of what's happening. If this proves to be correct, it could be that we can't depend on your abilities to time warp at all anymore. They've certainly proved their worth for us many times, and as such a miracle like that couldn't last forever."

Tsuki looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Speaking of Slayers..." Hanji looked at Kana. "It's been some time since we've seen any come here. We saw those few in Marley but the attacks directly at us have subsided for a while. That could be a blessing... or it could be that it means we're due."

Kana dipped her head. "Either way, we'll deal with it. It doesn't matter how many Slayers they send at us. As long as Meria and I are here, we'll take down any Slayer that comes here."

Hanji sighed. "You've grown quite confident, I hope that continues to be true. One day the Slayer that returns will be Mijore."

Kana narrowed her eyes. "I know."

 

Kana pulled the bun out of her hair later that evening after she had put Isabel to sleep for the evening. She started brushing the ratty tangles out as she commented, “So. The plan Hanji told us about today was news to me.” She glanced in the mirror to see that Levi paused in undoing his cravat and glanced back at her. She stated, “You’re leaving in the morning to go babysit the Beast Titan. I’m gonna guess it wasn’t a surprise to you.” 

Levi sighed. “Yes, I was in on the decision. I knew you’d be against it.” 

“Oh what gave you that idea?” Kana asked sharply. “Why are you going alone? Why aren’t any of the Slayers going with you? Or ya know, me?” 

Levi pulled his shirt off as he explained, “We weighed where you would be needed most. Here in town where we currently have two titans captive is where we decided you needed to be. The Slayers will be needed most here. And I won’t be alone, Kana, I have thirty soldiers coming with me.” 

“ _Ninety-nine_ soldiers didn’t make a difference to that bastard when he wiped out the Survey Corps four years ago.” Kana argued. “You should have run this by me. It would make more sense if one of the Slayers - “ 

“I didn’t run this by you cause I knew you’re be biased about this. Have you stopped to consider that you may not even have the aid of three Slayers if Eren decides he’s fed up with us and takes things into his own hands? Then you, Leah, and Tsuki may have to be dealing with two intelligent titans and a Slayer. If you ask me, you’re in just as much danger as I’ll be in.” 

Kana grumbled, “We don’t even know how long it’s going to be before we break through to Eren and get the details of whatever his plan is! You could be out there for months!” 

“Then so be it.” Levi stated. “There’s no one else that can be out there leading the brigade against Zeke.” 

Kana narrowed her eyes. “You can make it sound as noble as you want, you’re just doing it as your personal act of revenge for Erwin and the rest of the soldiers he butchered.” 

Levi glared right back at her. “That’s right. No one is going to put an end to him except me.” 

Kana clicked her tongue and yanked on her hair in frustration. “Fine. Whatever. It’s not like I can talk sense into you once your mind is made up. Just know that you’ve put _me_ in the awkward position of having to explain to Isabel why her father isn’t coming home every day until this is all settled.” 

“I’m well aware.” He stated simply. “Sorry. You can punish me all you want after I return.” 

Kana huffed. “You are the worst fucking person to argue with, you know that? I just can’t even stay mad no matter how pissed off I am.” 

He smirked at her and walked over to her at the vanity and put his hands on her shoulders before kissing the top of her head. “You’re just a softy like I am. Isabel has curbed your anger, you spitfire.” 

Kana laughed. “Yeah, I guess she has.” Her smile faded a bit before she told him, “I’m going to be checking in on you a lot, got it? So don’t you dare even think about doing something reckless and getting yourself hurt.” 

He nodded and combed his fingers through her hair. “You’re going to be in danger here, too. The same goes for you Kana...remember your promise.” 

She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed his palm. “Of course, Rivi.” 

 

The next morning, Levi spent extra time telling Isabel goodbye. He and Kana both tried explaining to her that he was going to be gone for a while, but the rambunctious girl wasn’t paying any attention and kept giving them kisses and hugging their faces and necks. Levi slowly and reluctantly handed her back to Kana. He leaned past her and gave Kana a slow kiss. He touched her forehead with his and warned, “Be good, Kana. Stay safe.” 

“Of course. But I always come back. You’re the one I’m worried about.”


End file.
